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Book 'KUT^ 



THE CHARTERS 



AND OTHER 



D O-'UMENTS 



RELATING TO THE 



KING'S TOWN OF MAIDSTONE 




LONDON : PRINTED BY 

MILLS, JOWETT, AND MILLS, (LATE BENSLEY) 

BOLT COURT, FLEET STREET. 



THE CHARTERS 

AND OTHER 

DOCUMENTS 

RELATING TO THE 

KING'S TOWN AND PARISH OF MAIDSTONE, 

IN THE COUNTY OF KENT. 



T OTES AND ANNOTATIONS 

LY SHOWING THE RIGHT OF ELECTION OF MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT 
^E IN THE INHABITANT HOUSEHOLDERS. 



WILLIAM ROBERTS JAMES 



Tn fs Town and Parish of Maydston, 1619. 




The Seale appertayning to the Mayer of Maydston, 1619. 
4SL 




LONDON: 

PRINTED FOR JOSEPH BUTTERWORTH AND SON, 

LAW -BOOKSELLERS, No. 43, FLEET-STREET. 

1825. 






. 



DEDICATION 

FROM THOSE 

WHO HAVE UNDERTAKEN TO VINDICATE YOUR RIGHTS 

TO 

THE INHABITANTS OF MAIDSTONE. 



To you this compilation, intended solely for your 
common benefit, and to vindicate your rights, is, 
with all confidence, dedicated. 

It must be obvious to you that these documents 
could not have been collected, nor this work pre- 
pared, without considerable cost and trouble, 
which have been devoted to your service. 

Not that there is any intention to appeal to your 
passions, or to rouse you into violence. We ap- 
peal only to your understandings. We call upon 
you to investigate these documents patiently and 
temperately : to ascertain from them with cer- 
tainty and conviction what are your real rights, 
and then put to yourselves the question, do you 
enjoy them ? If you do not, the next question is, 
will you tamely submit to the deprivation of them, 
or will you manfully and resolutely, with the firm- 
ness of those who value their rights, but at the 
same time with the moderation of those who re- 



VI DEDICATION. 

spect the laws, use all legal means in your power 
to resume your long alienated privileges, and 
enforce the enjoyment of your liberties and fran- 
chises ? 

For ourselves, we avow a fixed and steady pur- 
pose to pursue the course we have begun, and ne- 
ver to relinquish that purpose, until we have either 
restored the object of our desire, the full enjoy- 
ment of our common rights, or have obtained satis- 
factory conviction that we are not entitled to that 
which we claim. 

In this pursuit we are anxious to avoid clamour 
or violence; and, above all, altercation. We en- 
tertain no personal disrespect or hostility towards 
the present members of the corporation, — as hav- 
ing long enjoyed the exclusive privileges which 
they now possess, we do not even say that they 
are called upon to relinquish their possessory right, 
until they are satisfied that it is founded in usurpa- 
tion, and that they can no longer retain it with 
honour. As we know our claim upon them is 
founded on good motives, so shall we be ready to 
attribute their resistance to the same cause, until 
they have had a full and fair opportunity of in- 
vestigation. 

We submit these documents, and the observa- 
tions made upon them, to their consideration. 
We call upon them, as a duty they ow r e, as well to 
us as to themselves, to investigate them carefully; 
to examine also all other documents in their own 



DEDICATION. Vll 

possession; and upon a patient investigation of 
the whole, to decide for themselves. We appeal 
to their honour for a fair hearing ; we appeal to 
their understandings for a decision ; and relying 
with confidence upon the solid foundation of our 
case, with the decision of this domestic forum, 
honourably tried by our own fellow-townsmen, we 
are ready to abide. 

Honourable men, or real patriots, or those who 
really respect our municipal institutions, ought 
not to make an appeal to the law necessary. We 
should not have resorted to that course, had we 
not been repeatedly told that the corporation 
could not entertain our application, and that if we 
meant to succeed, we must apply to the courts of 
law. To show our confidence in our case, to 
those tribunals we have applied ; but whenever we 
find that the corporation will really and seriously 
attend to our application, and consider our case, 
we are ready to suspend our legal proceedings, 
and wait the result of such an inquiry. 

What do we ask ? What would be the result 
of our application ? and to whom do we apply for 
relief ? 

Our charters are all granted for the professed 
object of improving the place, and the condition of 
the inhabitants. We, a great body of those inha- 
bitants, now excluded from the privileges granted 
by these charters, ask to be allowed to participate 
in them, and that persons who are not inhabitants 



Vill DEDICATION; 

of the town should not be allowed to enjoy them ; 
certainly not to our exclusion. Do we ask this in 
vain of you, our fellow-townsmen? — are you so 
unjust as to exclude us from these privileges ?— 
are you so unwise as to prefer strangers to join as 
participators in your privileges, to us who are 
your neighbours, and, in many instances, your 
friends ? Who are the most likely to concur with 
you in measures for the benefit of the town ?— we, 
the inhabitants in it, or strangers unknowing and 
unknown to you— uninterested in our general 
welfare — unlikely to be able duly to appreciate the 
value of your characters, or in any respect to feel 
your influence. 

Justice and policy would here go hand in hand. 
We, who hereafter are likely to be most sensible 
of the respect due to your characters, and most 
subject to the legitimate influence derived from 
your wealth and municipal authority, ask you, the 
mayor, jurats and commonalty of Maidstone, to 
substitute us, your neighbours, for persons, stran- 
gers and foreigners to you. Can this appeal be 
made in vain, if you find history and law, justice 
and reason, charters and custom, sanctioning our 
demand ? 

Nor, as a question of policy, can the increase of 
the value of property within the town, when the 
inhabitant householders are allowed to be entitled 
to share the liberties and franchises of the place, 
possibly escape your observation. 



PREFATORY REMARKS. 



Before we enter into a discussion of the ancient 
constitution of the borough, and of the construction 
which formerly was, and still ought to be, put 
upon the charters incorporating its inhabitants, it 
may not be amiss to make a few observations on 
the present state of the corporation. 

We shall do this fearlessly, because we know 
that our data cannot be denied ; we shall do it 
plainly and explicitly, because we wish to be 
understood, that if our statements are inaccurate, 
they may be corrected. We shall do it mode- 
rately and temperately, because we wish not to 
exasperate, but to conciliate. 

To the greater part of you, the facts we shall state 
are well known, though probably you are nc^ in 
the habit of recalling them to your minds, or con- 
sidering their effect. If you did, we feel confident 
that no dispassionate reflecting mind can for a 
moment hesitate to see and acknowledge the ne- 
cessity of reformation; particularly with regard 
to the exercise of the elective franchise. 



X PREFATORY REMARKS. 

The present population of Maidstone is, from 
the best authorities, calculated at 14,000. 

There are 813 freemen, of whom only 490 are 
resident, the remaining 323 living entirely away 
from the town, and not contributing in the slight- 
est degree to the support or improvement of it, 
or sharing in any manner with the inhabitants the 
legal burthens of the town, whether pecuniary or 
personal. 

Of the 14,000 inhabitants there are 2,373 house- 
holders, of whom only 795 are rated, the remain- 
ing 1,578 residing in houses not exceeding 12/. 
per annum, and having their rates paid by their 
landlord. 

Again, of the 7&5 householders who are rated, 
there are 172, at present, freemen, and 97 females. 
Of the 1,578 non-rated householders, there are 
174 freemen. 

There needs but little more than this plain 
statement to convince any impartial reader of the 
absolute necessity of measures being taken to re- 
store the right of election, and the borough and 
corporate liberties and privileges, to those in whom 
they were originally vested, namely, " The inha- 
bitant householders — those who bear the burthens 
of the place, by paying scot and bearing lot. 

It will be obvious, that as far as the parliamentary 
right of election is concerned and exercised, it is, 
in the present state of the borough, frequently in the 
power of what is commonly called a third man — 



PREFATORY REMARKS. XI 

that is., some adventuring stranger, with a long 
purse, (aided by the venal part of the non-resident 
freemen,) who is disposed to part with his money 
freely, with the usual pre-covenanted ignorance of 
the manner in which it is to be applied ; and such, 
we regret to say, are always too easy to be found, 
to carry an election, and to return to Parliament, 
in spite of the opposing wishes of the inhabitants, 
or even of the resident freemen, any two members, 
even the most objectionable to the whole town 
and all the inhabitants. Thus, if two candidates 
of equal pretensions, as far as the interests of the 
town, or the wishes of the inhabitants or resident 
freemen were concerned, were to divide the greater 
portion of the 490 residents, the third man, 
though he should obtain few or none of t^e resi- 
dent votes, might, by the non-resident freemen, 
carry every thing before him, outvote the two 
favourite candidates adopted by the inhabitants of 
the town, and put in their place persons totally ob- 
jectionable, offensive to the inhabitants, and hostile 
to their views : and thus this ancient borough and 
town would find that it has palmed upon it, as its 
representatives in the great Legislative Assembly, 
to watch over its interests, those of whom the in- 
habitants know little, and to whom they or their 
concerns are little known, and between whom 
and their proper constituents there can be neither 
confidence or respect. 

Is the British constitution admired throughout 



Xll PREFATORY REMARKS. 

the world i and can this be a part of it ? We an- 
swer the question promptly — it is no part of it. 
These are the distortions of our excellent consti- 
tution, brought in by fraud and usurpation. Here 
we ask our opponents to such, for a fair and direct 
answer ; they must say, these things are allowed 
by our constitution, or they cannot support them. 
We redeem our venerated constitution from the 
unfounded imputation, and say, attribute this not 
to the folly of our laws or our institutions, but to 
the corruptions of usurpation. 

But this, though grievous, is not the whole cause 
of complaint against the system at present practised 
in our town. We have a great disinclination in any 
manner to attack or reflect upon our poorer bre- 
thren ; we would rather lessen their sufferings and 
increase their comforts, than abridge any of their 
rights ; but we have entered upon a solemn duty, 
and we must discharge it faithfully to our country ; 
we are considering who ought to be legislators for 
this great nation, and by whom (at least with 
reference to one place, which may be an example 
to others) these legislators ought to be elected ; 
and we say, fearlessly, because it cannot be con- 
tradicted, that, as far back as our history reaches, 
it has been the invariable practice of our constitu- 
tion, that those who elect the representatives in 
Parliament, should, at least, be apparently inde- 
pendent in their stations in life, and not subject to 
that direct and irresistible influence which pau- 



PREFATORY REMARKS. Xlll 

perism induces ; hence, as a principle of the com- 
mon law, all persons receiving parish relief have 
been at all times rejected as voters, and though 
this principle has never been directly denied at 
our elections, it has been virtually and tacitly 
rejected. 

Of the 490 resident freemen there are, and 
always have been, a great portion in a state of 
absolute pauperism, many actually residing in the 
parish workhouse, and others receiving weekly 
parochial aid. It is an indisputable fact, that these 
persons, just previously to an election, are supplied 
with food and clothing, or the means of procuring 
them, and in due time are brought up to vote. 
It may be asked, why are not their votes rejected ? 
the answer is plain, simple, and cannot be denied. 
All the candidates resort to the same means, and 
it is a sort of tacit understanding amongst them, 
that the question of parish relief shall not be put 
to any of the voters. 

Thus these persons, who are supported in part, 
or entirely, by the inhabitant householders, and 
from the state in which they are, must be too open 
to the direct influence of money, exercise, under 
that corrupt influence, the right which is denied to 
the great majority of those by whom they are sup- 
ported ; for, of the 795 rated householders, the 
elective franchise is denied to 526 who are com- 
petent to vote. 

As on the one hand we have no wish improperyl 



XIV PREFATORY REMARKS. 

or unconstitutionally to depress our poorer neigh- 
bours, so also have we no wish unconstitutionally 
or unreasonably to aggrandise the rich, but we 
must do to them also what reason and justice 
require — those who have wealth, bear, in pro- 
portion to their property, more of the burthens of 
the state, as well local as general. It is therefore 
but reasonable, and equitable, that they should 
have some voice in the election of their represen- 
tatives in Parliament, if not a voice commensurate 
with their liabilities, at least some voice. Now in 
this place, a small proportion of those who, according 
to the present practice, have the elective franchise 
accorded to them, are men of property ; the great 
majority of them, as must have appeared from the 
facts already stated, not having sufficient even to 
be called upon to contribute to the rates of the 
parish. Many of those to whom the franchise is 
denied are men possessing considerable property 
in the town, residing there, spending their incomes 
in the town, and paying the usual rates for their 
property ; filling all the parochial and other offices, 
when called upon, and in short bearing all the 
burthens of the place, as well those which are pe- 
cuniary as personal. 

It may not be amiss here to give to our readers 
what is known to many residents of Maidstone to 
be an historical fact. On a warmly contested elec- 
tion for a member of Parliament for the town, 
twenty-one voters entered into an agreement not 



PREFATORY REMARKS. XV 

to accept less than a certain sum for their votes ; 
they hid themselves in a hay-loft, but from time 
to time had notice how matters went on. The 
candidates were so even in their numbers that 
these men had it completely in their power to 
carry the election. One of the candidates found 
them out ; but they having drawn up the ladder* 
he could not get to them without having first 
given an undertaking to come into their terms : 
they then admitted him, and the consequence was, 
they proceeded in a body, and gained the elec- 
tion. 

With reference to the present state of our cor- 
poration, we proceed to that subject with less in- 
clination, and more reluctance, because, in the 
first place, we conceive it of less importance, both 
in a local and general point of view. Generally 
speaking, and with reference to the public at large, 
it is of no importance who administers the local 
government of our place; even locally speaking, it 
is not very material; and as a matter of individual 
ambition, the civic gown and dignity is scarcely 
enough to gratify even the vain ; and we fear on 
this part of our subject we might unintentionally 
be drawn into observations which might have the 
appearance too much of personal attack ; we there- 
fore feel a reluctance to embark ourselves in this 
pursuit, and we willingly content ourselves with 
adopting the previously published statements of 
others, with respect to the progress of our corporate 



XVI PREFATORY REMARKS. 

system, than needlessly suggest any thing new, of 
our own. 

For this purpose, with a view of giving informa- 
tion to our readers, we make the following ex- 
tracts, with some few alterations, from a small 
pamphlet we find published in the year 1786, and 
the facts contained in which we have every reason 
to think are correct. 

After speaking of the two parties then existing 
in the place — the Aylesford interest, and those 
who supported Mr. Taylor in opposition to that 
interest, and speaking of the granting of the new 
charter, in the year 1747, the author, in page 14, 
proceeds to state, that " When the new charter was 
granted, which bears date the 17th of June, 1747, 
those who drew it up seem to have had in view the 
disputes that occasioned the loss of the old one ; 
and endeavoured, if possible, to prevent future 
contentions, by confining them to a particular 
mode, and expressly declaring in whom the right 
of electing the mayor, jurats and common council 
should be vested. 

" The charter gave so little satisfaction to either 
of the contending parties, which were respectively 
headed by the late Lord Aylesford and the late 
William Horsmonden Turner, Esq. that it lay a 
year and a half in the office, before either of those 
gentlemen would accept it, though they both used 
all their interest in the Privy Council to get it 
framed agreeable to their own views at that time, 



PREFATORY REMARKS. XV11 

and particularly the clause for filling up the com- 
mon council, but without effect ; for after it had 
been debated three several nights in the Privy 
Council, it was resolved that the charter should 
be drawn according to the plan reported by the 
then Attorney and Solicitor General. 

* At last, Mr. Turner, just before an election, 
thought it his interest to accept it, and accord- 
ingly brought it to Maidstone ; where, being read 
to the freemen, it was received with general ap- 
probation. 

" Some time after the charter was obtained, one 
party got the reins of the corporation into their 
own hands, and elected Mr. Thomas Pope, the 
first mayor after their accession. 

" Finding themselves thus comfortably circum- 
stanced, they began to read the charter with a 
nice and critical eye, and observed the clause 
which gave them the power to enact bye-laws. 
After some deliberation, it was resolved to put this 
clause in execution, when it should be c necessary, 
convenient, and advantageous ' to themselves ; 
and settle wholesome precedents for succeeding 
generations. And first, Mr. Thomas Pope, that 
the seat might be rendered perfectly easy and 
agreeable to him and his successors, and that the 
chief magistracy might be supported with splen- 
dour and dignity, craved the benefit of the bye- 
law clause, by which they were empowered to 
make, &c. ' profitable and honest laws according 

b 






XV111 PREFATORY REMARKS. 



to their discretion.' Agreeable to this, a bye-law 
was made, whereby a grant of 50Z. was given to 
himself, and all succeeding mayors, for executing 
that office, which before had been thought an ho- 
nour ; but this law, if it had been put in execution, 
would have rendered it a pecuniary employment. 

" Mr. Pope, who was then at the head of the 
party, conceived that the power of enacting bye- 
laws was boundless ; but how far this law coin- 
cided with the sense of the corporation, and even 
the bench itself, is evident from its operation ; for 
although Mr. Pope was the author of it, he did not 
accept the 50/., on account of the poverty of the 
corporation, and the contempt he would have 
been liable to, having so often, before he got into 
office, preached from the text of economy. 

"Mr. Wildash being elected mayor the next 
year, this law was repealed. 

" From the time the charter was first brought 
to Maidstone, the commonalty had experienced 
the right given them thereby, both in the elec- 
tion of common councilmen, and admission of 
freemen, without any apparent inconvenience to 
any one ; and so long as the bench could carry the 
election of their friends into the common council, 
this power vested in the commonalty was very 
agreeable to them. But having, from the time of 
-their first coming into power, by a series of arbi- 
trary proceedings, so far alienated the affections of 
the commonalty from them, that, notwithstanding 



PREFATORY REMARKS. XIX 

the utmost efforts they could make to the contrary, 
on the 9th April, 1764, an election of four persons 
into the common council was carried against 
them. This so exasperated the mayor and his 
party, that many of them made no scruple pub- 
licly to declare that they would prevent the free- 
men carrying an election against them in future, 
by depriving them of the right of voting, not only 
at the election of common councilmen, but also 
on the admission of freemen : but as these very 
persons, before they got into power, had repeat- 
edly told the commonalty that it was not in the 
power of the bench, by any bye-law, to deprive 
them of any part of their privileges, so expressly 
granted them by the charter, no credit was given 
to these threats. However, it soon appeared that 
they were in earnest, for on the 8th August fol- 
lowing, a summons was posted for the jurats and 
common council to meet the mayor on the 
18th, to make such reasonable laws as should seem 
necessary for the good order and government of 
the town. The result of this meeting was, two 
bye-laws were made: the one for depriving the 
commonalty of the right of voting for common 
councilmen, and vesting the power in the mayor, 
jurats, and common council, and such as had 
served the office of churchwarden and overseer of 
the poor ; the other, for depriving the commonalty 
of the right of voting on the admission of freemen, 
and vesting this power also in the same persons, 

b 2 



XX PREFATORY REMARKS. 

" The freemen finding themselves thus de- 
prived of the rights so expressly granted to them 
by the charter, and in a manner disfranchised by 
the nefarious acts of the bench, disputed the first 
of these bye-laws, which was accordingly set aside 
by judgment of the Court of King's Bench in 
Hilary Term 1766, and mandamuses were ordered 
by the Court to go for filling up the common 
council bench agreeable to the charter. But so 
little regard was paid by the bench to the judg- 
ment of the Court, or to the writs of mandamus, 
that the day before the writs were returnable, viz. 
on the 11th of February 1766, the mayor, jurats, 
and common council met, and made two other 
bye-laws : the one for vesting the power of elect- 
ing the common council in the majority of the 
mayor, jurats, and common council, and forty 
senior freemen ; and the other for vesting in the 
same persons, the power of admitting freemen : 
the next day the first of these bye-laws was put 
in execution, by electing two common council- 
men ; but the mayor, under the pretence that the 
meeting was not legal, advised the two who were 
elected, not to accept the office under that elec- 
tion, for that he, at a future day, would call 
another court, when they might be re-elected, 
which was accordingly done on the 2d day of 
April following. 

" It is necessary to observe here, that the ille- 
gality of the court was only a pretence of the 



PREFATORY REMARKS. XXI 

maydr ; for/ concluding that the bye-law would be 
disputed, if he put it in execution the day after it 
was made, and on which the mandamuses were 
returnable, he thought the Court might look upon 
it as an insult to their authority in thus avoiding 
to execute the writs according to their tenor. 

" The freemen immediately filed an information 
for the purpose of disputing this bye-law, and the 
bench finding that they were determined to bring 
the matter before the Court, after they had tried 
every art to prevent it, thought proper to let 
judgment go against them in Hilary Term 1767. 

" This was no sooner done, and thinking that 
the commonalty would at last be tired out with 
the expense of prosecutions, on the 14th March 
following, they ventured to make a third bye-law, 
with this difference only, that instead of 40 of the 
senior freemen to be joined to the bench, they 
made the number 60 ; by which they would have 
had it understood, that as the bench consisted of 
but 53, the commonalty were the larger number ; 
and on the 22d May following they put this bye- 
law in execution, by electing a freeman into the 
common council, and swearing him into office. 

" The situation of the commonalty at this period 
was become really of a serious nature ; they were 
not only injuring themselves in a private capacity 
by the expense of these repeated prosecutions, but 
were absolutely supporting their oppressors by 
means of the bench making use of the corporation 



XX11 PREFATORY REMARKS. 

money to defend their lawless acts. The continual 
feasts with which the mayors entertained them- 
selves^ and the mysterious manner of their em- 
bezzling the wealth of the corporation, which was 
now reduced almost to beggary, could no longer 
be borne by the freemen, who, when a burghmote 
was held, some time after, went to court and told 
them in plain terms, that no more freedoms should 
be sold without their consent, and since that time 
the conduct of the bench has not induced the free- 
men to repose this power in them again. 

" Although the charter gives a power to the 
bench to make bye-laws, yet it seems evident from 
the clause which gives them that power, that 
it does not mean bye-laws to alter the con- 
stitution as settled by the charter, for that 
would be in effect giving a power to overturn 
itself, and the charter says, that ' all and singular 
such laws, ordinances and constitutions shall be 
reasonable, and be not repugnant or contrary to 
the laws, statutes, customs, or rights of our king- 
dom of Great Britain.' 

" That this bye-law was not reasonable appears 
manifestly from the following observations, though 
it carried the appearance of equity by appointing a 
larger number of the commonalty to be electors 
jointly with the bench than the bench consisted 
of : yet it was literally a shadow ; for by not re- 
straining the 60 seniors to residence within the 
corporation, or to be freeholders, householders, 



PREFATORY REMARKS. XX111 

or to have other qualification whatever, than that 
of freeman, nearly half of them were constantly 
resident at a distance, and therefore could not be 
summoned, as they ought to be, to attend their 
elections. Another part of these, who were resi- 
dent in the corporation, were constantly in the 
workhouse of the parish, or almshouses of the 
corporation, and, of course, under the influence of 
the mayor and jurats ; and the remaining few, by 
age and other infirmities, not capable of attending; 
for as the number of freemen was between eight 
and nine hundred, in course of nature, the 60 
seniors would be nearly, if not quite 70 years of 
age, and many of them 80 and upwards. 

Further; it was very immaterial to foreigners 
who were of the common council; even if they 
could have been summoned, they would not at- 
tend, as they were not subject to any penalty if 
they did not ; so that any person after that time 
who should be induced to offer himself as a candi- 
date for the office of common councilman, if he 
was not agreeable to the bench, found it impossible 
to succeed, from the obstacles which were thrown 
in his way by this bye-law. 

u It is obvious, from the management of the 
bench in framing it, that though they pretended it 
was to prevent riots and popular confusion, their 
real object was to engross the whole power of 
electing the common council to themselves, or 
they could have limited the right to such as were 



XXIV PREFATORY REMARKS. 

resident in the town and parish, being freeholders 
or householders, and exclusive of the common 
council, who, by this law, were made to be part of 
the electors themselves, seeing the charter had 
clearly excluded them, by directing that the mayor, 
jurats, and commonalty shall fill up the common 
council bench. This was sufficiently evident at 
the election of one Robert Cutbush, some time 
after; for, of the sixty seniors seven only appeared, 
and these, poor people procured by the bench to 
attend, several of whom came from the workhouse 
and almshouses ; and as a further proof of their 
intentions, they did not publish a list of the names 
of the sixty, as they had done under the former 
bye -law, so that it was not in the power of the 
commonalty to know who they were. 

" It is evident, from the obstinacy of this party 
in opposing the judgments of the Court of King's 
Bench, to which they paid so little deference, that 
they were determined to keep the government of 
the town in their own hands, for they did not even 
hesitate at any thing, however unjust, nor leave 
unexecuted any iniquitous scheme which might 
disfranchise the freemen, and render themselves, 
to a certain degree, absolute. The freemen thus 
circumstanced had recourse again to the Court of 
King's Bench, and in Michaelmas Term 1767, this 
bye-law was set aside by judgment of the Court, 
and mandamuses were ordered to go for filling up 
the common council bench as before, and this 



PREFATORY REMARKS. XXV 

seems to have been decisive, for since that period 
the bench have not presumed to renew either of 
these bye-laws, nor made any other with respect 
to filling up the common council bench. 

" When we bring into one point of view these 
arbitrary acts, the despotic sway with which these 
men would have ruled, if not checked and cor- 
rected by our wholesome constitution, the infringe- 
ments they made on our privileges, and the viola- 
tion of the charter, by which they endeavoured 
to render themselves absolute, we must be 
thoroughly convinced of the baseness of their 
principles, and to use Lord Mansfield's words, on 
the hearing of the cause on the last bye-law, 
' They would overturn the constitution itself, if it 
were in their power.' What might we not have 
expected if some spirited freemen had not opposed 
these invaders, and this current of tyranny ? No- 
thing less than a deprivation of our rights as free- 
men, and an abject slavery to their wills. 

" After these three bye-laws were set aside, the 
bench, who had now rendered themselves obnoxious 
to the society, meditated new schemes to incom- 
mode the commonalty, finding every manoeuvre 
to deprive them of their privileges ineffectual. 
Thus dejected by the judgments of the Court of 
Kings Bench, they soon devised another bye-law, 
which, for its ignorance and malice only, is worthy 
of remark. It had been the custom, when the 
mayor gave notice of a burghmote, to mention in 



XXVI PREFATORY REMARKS. 

the notice what business they intended to go upon.: 
This bye-law was nothing less than to ordain that 
' the business of the day should not in future he in- 
serted in the notices, nor hy any other mode made 
public' 

" Some time after this, the mayor gave public 
notice for holding a burghmote, two vacancies hav- 
ing happened in the common council : the freemen 
concluded that it was held for filling them up, and 
attended according to their summons, in expecta- 
tion of a contest ; but after having waited a con- 
siderable time for a majority of the jurats to make 
a court, the mayor being then alone, the freemen , 
to their disappointment, saw them, instead of at- 
tending their duty as magistrates and honest men, 
set out on a party of pleasure to Horsmonden fair: 
the consequence was, a burghmote could not be 
held, and the freemen were sent about their busi- 
ness, the ruling party, who planned this scheme, 
being well persuaded that they should have lost 
their election if the bench had been filled up. 

"In 1780, the Parliament being dissolved, Mr. 
Taylor was proposed as a candidate for one of the 
representatives. At this time things began to wear 
a very different appearance ; a more pleasing pro- 
spect now presented itself ; the interest of the rul- 
ing party began to decline, and the glare of their 
insidious promises grew dim : every honest free- 
man began to exert himself, threw aside his pre- 
judices, that false medium through which it is im- 



PREFATORY REMARKS. XXVU 

possible to see clearly, and listed under the banner 
of freedom, supported by its able friend Mr. Taylor, 
who was returned one of the representatives, in 
spite of every effort of the ruling party, who lost 
their own election ; not to forget the illiberal 
epithets which were thrown out by them in the 
course of this memorable contest. 

" Two jurats dying about this time, Sir William 
Bishop, then Mr. Bishop, and Mr. Thomas Argles 
were nominated by the ruling party to fill up the 
vacancies ; Mr. Seager was then preferred to Mr. 
Argles by the opposite party, and nominated by 
them. Mr. Argles pleaded a custom of rotation, 
and declared, that if Mr. Seager were chosen, he 
would never more sit on the bench ; that it was 
' uncandid, illiberal, and ungenerous, even to nomi- 
nate him.' Upon these considerations, and the 
force of Mr. Argles' eloquence, he was elected. 

" From 1782, till the present time, (1786,) no 
burghmote has been held to fill up the bench, 
notwithstanding the repeatedsolicitations of many 
respectable freemen ; during the interval, nine va- 
cancies have happened, and the ruling party have 
tyrannically refused to fill them up. Thus four 
years have we tamely suffered to elapse without 
being properly represented on the bench, and 
submitted ourselves to their reproachful govern- 
ment ; and what aggravates the case still more, 
for the space of a year and a half, they did not 
hold a burghmote to make free ; in which time 



XXVlll PREFATORY REMARKS. 

the Parliament was dissolved, and many young 
freemen were deprived of the privilege of voting 
for their representatives. 

" At last a promise was obtained from Mr. Pope, 
the mayor, for holding a burghmote for filling up 
the nine vacancies which had happened in the 
bench ; viz. four jurats and five common council- 
men. Friday, the 4th August last, was appointed 
for the purpose, but that being the day chosen by 
Mr. Taylor for their annual excursion on the 
water, the burghmote was postponed till the Sa- 
turday morning. 

"The vacancies of jurats were, as usual, first filled 
up, but not in that customary manner of rotation 
which was so strongly argued by Mr. Thomas 
Argles in a preceding burghmote. The Tories pro- 
posed none but their own friends, and nominated 
Messrs. Post, Edward Argles, King, and Stacey, 
omitting several gentlemen of the Whig party, 
equally as capable and respectable. The opposite 
party finding themselves thus neglected, and the 
younger common councilmen shamefully put over 
their heads, nominated four gentlemen in opposi- 
tion, who, according to the custom of rotation, 
ought to have been preferred to three of the 
others, viz. Messrs Elvy and Stevenson, who were 
both before Mr. Post, and Messrs. Seager and 
Edmeads who were immediately after him ; and, 
what is very singular, there are twenty-one gen- 
tlemen between Mr. Elvy and Mr. Stacey; how- 



PREFATORY REMARKS. XXIX 

ever, the election of the jurats, as was expected, 
was carried by a majority of the Tories, which gave 
a general disgust to the freemen: after twelve 
hours contest, in which every act of bribing, threat- 
ening, and cajoling was practised by the ruling 
party, they could only bring one out of their nine 
candidates into the common council. 

" After the election of the jurats, came on the 
election of common councilmen, and a very sharp 
contest ensued. The ruling party nominated 
Messrs. Blake, Day, Corrall, Poole, Bath, Beau- 
mont, Wimble, Elvy junior, and Burr ; the Whigs, 
Messrs. Green, Moore, Stephen Seager, Mears, 
Scott, Spratt, Scultup, Cousins, and Smyth ; each 
party exerted every nerve to gain the pre-emi- 
nence; but the mayor, recorder, &c, seeing the 
inevitable downfall of the party, planned the most 
illiberal scheme that chagrin and malice could 
devise; that of keeping the poll open till 12 o'clock, 
then to claim the privileges of the Lord's day, and 
not close the poll, but adjourn the court till Mon- 
day, which scheme was accordingly put in execu- 
tion. As eight of the opposing party were first upon 
the poll at 12 o'clock, and no freeman appearing 
to vote, and the crier of the court having repeat- 
edly proclaimed, ' that, if no person came forward 
to vote, the poll would be closed;' if the ruling 
party had been in the case of their opponents, 
would not the mayor have closed the poll ? The 
answer is easy, — he certainly would. What inva- 



XXX PREFATORY REMARKS. 

luable benefits would accrue to the nation at large, 
if the eyes and ears of all its governors were fully 
and effectually opened ; if the baneful mists of 
ignorance, prejudice, partiality, and self-interest, 
were no longer able to obscure the sight. 

" The next morning, agreeable to their expec- 
tations, they found that the opposing party had 
dispatched messengers to bring in their foreigners, 
in expectation of the contest being continued on 
Monday ; and what is a convincing proof of this 
scheme of the ruling party, they had not dispatched 
a single messenger ; but knowing the expense 
their opponents must now unavoidably sustain, 
made a proposal that the poll should be closed in 
the state it then was ; which, after some delibera- 
tion, was accepted. 

" On Monday morning, the nine successful 
candidates, eight of the opposing party and one 
of the ruling party, were declared duly elected, 
and sworn into office." 

Thus far our author proceeds — for the reasons 
we have given before, of avoiding any observations 
of our own, which might be thought personal to 
the present members of the corporation, we for- 
bear bringing down the history of that body to 
the present time ; and here for the present we 
stop. 

But before we finally close these preliminary 
remarks, we must express our anxious and urgent 
request, to the public at large, whom it inti- 



PREFATORY REMARKS. XXXI 

mately concerns, but more particularly those who 
have an interest in the town, cautiously to examine 
the ancient principles and practice of our law and 
constitution, as we have endeavoured to explain 
them ; attentively to read and consider the char- 
ters granted to this place, by which the inhabitants 
of the town and parish have been incorporated and 
governed from a very early period. We implore 
them to trace, step by step, the gradual encroach- 
ments made on the rights of the inhabitant house- 
holders ; and we doubt not that they will then 
perceive that the present system of the admission 
of non-resident freemen, and the exclusion of the 
inhabitant householders, is one entirely of usurpa- 
tion ; and we appeal with confidence to our fel- 
low-townsmen, now acknowledged members of the 
corporation, each in their several station, to lend 
a helping hand towards wresting from those who 
are equally strangers to them and to ourselves, the 
privileges they usurp, and restoring the franchises 
of the place in which they live, to those for whom 
they were originally intended, and from whom 
they have been unjustly and illegally withheld. 



May 1825. 



THE CHARTERS 



MAIDSTONE. 



Edward the Sixth, in the third year of his reign, granted i 54 g _ 
a charter to Maidstone, of which the following is a copy. 3dEdw -Vi. 

The First Part of the Patents of the Third Year of the 
Reign of King Edward VI. 

The King to all whom, &c. greeting. Whereas here- F 0rt h ein . 
tofore, by many years past, the government and rule of our habitants of 

/• rr i , the town of 

town of Maidstone, in our county of Kent, were thought Maidstone. 
to pertain and belong to certain inhabitants in the same 
town, commonly called the portreeve and brethren of 
the town of Maidstone ; but now occasion being given of 
examining the principles and origin of such government 
and rule of the said town, which town is the chief port 
of the water of Medway, the same, as we are informed, 
are found insufficient in law to maintain such rule and 
government ; we, by the advice of our most dear uncle 
and counsellor Edward Duke of Somerset, guardian of our 
person and protector of our kingdoms, dominions, and 
subjects, and other our counsellors, being willing to 
incorporate and erect into one body politic our beloved 
subjects the inhabitants of the said town, for their general 
and common advantage and utility, do, by these presents, 

B 



1548—3 EDW. VI. 



Richard 
Hely 
created 
mayor. 



Thirteen 
jurats cre- 
ated. 



The mayor, 
jurats, and 
inhabitants 
of the town 
of Maid- 
stone incor- 
porated by 
the name of 
the mayor, 
jurats, and 
commonalty 
of the town 
of Maid- 
stone. 



of our special grace, and of our certain knowledge and 
mere motion, for us and our heirs, ordain, nominate, make 
and create the honest man Richard Hely, an inhabitant 
within the said town of Maidstone, mayor of the same 
town, to execute the office of mayoralty of the same 
town henceforth unto the feast of St. Michael the Arch- 
angel next coming, and on the same feast until another 
person shall be elected mayor of the said town. And also, 
by these presents, we ordain, nominate, make and create 
the aforesaid Richard Hely, Richard Basse, John 
Ippynbury, Robert Gosselyn, William Reve, James Beret, 
Richard Almon, Richard Hoker, William Grene, Thomas 
Gore, William Tylden, Peter Mapeston and John Dendley, 
inhabitants within the said town of Maidstone, jurats of 
the same town; and that every of the jurats aforesaid 
shall be a jurat of the town aforesaid for the term of his 
life, if it shall so seem good to the mayor and other ju- 
X'ats and commonalty of the town aforesaid. And also, of 
our knowledge and mere motion aforesaid, and by the 
advice aforesaid, we will and grant, for us, our heirs and 
successors, that the said mayor and jurats, and the 
inhabitants in the same town of Maidstone, henceforth in 
deed and name be and shall be incorporated and created 
a body politic, by the name of the mayor, jurats and com- 
monalty of the town of Maidstone, in the county ol Kent, 
and them, the mayor, jurats and commonalty, one body 
politic by the name abovesaid, we make, ordain, erect, 
create, nominate and declare, by these presents really to 
endure for ever. And further, we will, and for us, our 
heirs and successors, of our grace, knowledge and mere 
motion aforesaid, by the advice aforesaid, grant that the 
limits and precincts of the town aforesaid, as to all and 
singular the things in our present letters patent contained 
and specified, extend themselves by the whole town of 



1548—3 EDW. VI. 3 

Maidstone, and by the whole parish of All Saints of 
Maidstone, in the aforesaid county of Kent, for ever. And 
further, of our grace, knowledge, and mere motion afore- 
said, and by the advice aforesaid, we grant to the afore- 
said mayor, jurats, and commonalty, and their successors, 
that the jurats of the said town and parish, or the greater 
part of the jurats of the same town, for the time /T being, 
from time to time every year henceforth and hereafter for 
ever, on the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, may as- 
semble in some convenient place, by them to be assigned 
at their pleasure, within the said town of Maidstone, and 
there to nominate and assign two men then being jurats 
of the said town to the other persons, inhabitants in the same To assemble 
town and parish, and having lands and tenements of freehold f St.Mi- 
in the same town and parish, in their own proper right for ch . ael t0 no " 
term of their life at least, then in the same place being pre- jurats, and 
sent, to the intent and purpose that the said other persons 
inhabitants in the said town and parish, and having lands or 
tenements of freehold aforesaid in the same towtt then there 
being present, or the greater part of them, may elect one out thereout to 
of those two jurats so nominated and assigned, to be nomi- ^j"* 
nated and assigned to bear the office of mayoralty of the 
said town, and to be the mayor of the same town for the 
year then following : and that he of the said two jurats 
so nominated and assigned to be nominated and assigned, 
who by the said other persons so inhabiting and having 
lands or tenements of freehold in the same town and 
parish, or by the greater number of the same persons then 
there present, shall be elected to bear the office of 
mayoralty of the said town, shall be mayor of the said 
town, and shall bear the office of mayoralty of the same 
town, for one whole year then next following, if he shall for one year, 
so long live : and tjiat the same person so to be elected 
mayor of the said town, and every other person so elected 

b 2 



4 1548—3 EDW. r VI. 

Mayor to to be mayor of the said town, shall take a corporal oath 
*' before his last predecessor in the same office, if his same 
predecessor shall be then surviving and then present in 
the aforesaid place where the election aforesaid shall be 
made 5 and if his predecessor shall be then dead or absent, 
then before other the jurats of the town aforesaid there 
present, for the faithful execution and true use of the said 
office, in like manner and form as the mayor of our city of 
same form Canterbury is used to swear. And, moreover, we will and 
ma 1 or of g rant to the aforesaid mayor, jurats, and commonalty, and 
Canterbury, their successors, by these presents, that if, and as often as it 
shall happen from time to time, that any person being mayor 
In case of of the aforesaid town and parish shall die during the time 
moval, " in which he shall be mayor of the same town, or amove 
from his office aforesaid, within the year next after his 
election and admission, that then and so often the jurats 
of the town aforesaid, or the greater part of the jurats of 
the said town for the time being, from time to time for 
ever, at such time which to the same jurats for the time 
being, or the greater part of them, shall seem good and 
expedient, may assemble in a convenient place within 
the town aforesaid, by tiiem assigned at their pleasure, 
and there nominate and assign two persons then being 
jurats of the same town to the other persons inhabiting 
in the same town and palish, and having lands and tene- 
ments of freehold as aforesaid, in the same town as is 
aforesaid, then and there being present, to the intent and 
purpose, that the said other persons, or the greater pan 
Provisionfor of them, may elect one out of those two jurats so nomi 
other" 2 '*"" nated and assigned, to bear the office of mayoralty of the 
mayor. sa y t own< an< j to be mayor of the same town, thenceforth 
unto the feast of St. Michael the Archangel then next 
following, and on the same feast until another person 
shall be elected to be mayor of the same town, and that 



1548—3 EDW. VI. 5 

the ??aid other persons, inhabitants in the said town of 
Maidstone, and having lands or tenements of freehold in 
the same town, then and there being present, or the 
greater part of them, may elect one out of those two 
jurats so nominated and assigned, to be nominated and 
assigned to bear the office of mayoralty of the said town, 
and to be mayor of the said town, from the same time 
unto the feast of St. Michael the Archangel then next 
following ; and that he of the said two jurats so nomi- 
nated and assigned, to be nominated and assigned, who 
by the greater number of the said other persons inhabit- 
ing in the said town, and having lands or tenements of 
freehold in the same, shall be elected to bear the office of 
mayoralty of the said town, and to be mayor of the same 
town from thence, shall be mayor of the same town, and 
bear the office of mayoralty of the same town, from the 
same time unto the feast of St. Michael the AV-changel 
then next following, and on the same feast until a 
new mayor in the same town shall be elected ; and that 
the same person so elected, and every person who shall 
be so elected, as mayor of the town aforesaid, shall take 
a corporal oath before other the jurats of the same town, 
then and there being present, for the faithful execu- 
tion and true use of his said office, in manner and form 
aforesaid. Also, we will, and for us, our heirs and i ncaseof 

successors, of our grace, knowledge, and mere motion death or re * 
. ' & j s j moval of 

aforesaid, and by the advice aforesaid, grant by these jurat. 
presents, to the aforesaid mayor, jurats, commonalty, 
and their successors for ever, that, as often as it shall 
happen that any jurat of the town aforesaid for the 
time being shall die or be amoved from the office of Mayor and 
jurat of the town aforesaid, that then, and so often, it J? rats to 

° ' ' 5 elect a jurat. 

shall be well lawful to the mayor and jurats of the said 
town, or to the mayor of the said town, and the greater 



1548—3 EDW. VI. 



Power to 

create jurat. 



Mayor to 
nominate a 
sergeant at 
mace annu- 
ally, 



as at Can- 
terbury. 



part of the jurats of the same town for the time being, 
from time to time for ever, at such time as to them shall 
seem good and expedient, in a convenient place by them 
to be assigned at their pleasure, within the said town 
and parish, to assemble, and there elect and nominate 
one or more of the other persons then inhabiting within 
the same town, and then not being a jurat of the same 
town, to be a jurat or jurats of the same town, and that 
every person so elected and nominated to be a jurat 
of the said town, from the time of such election shall 
be a jurat of the same town, if it shall so seem good to 
the mayor and other jurats and commonalty of the 
town aforesaid, during his or their life or lives; and that 
if a crime or other sufficient and notorious fault shall be 
found in any jurat there, that then the same mayor and 
other the jurats and commonalty of the town aforesaid 
may amove and expel him from the office of jurat, and 
another in his stead elect, make, and appoint, inform 
aforesaid. Also, we will, and for us, our heirs and 
successors, by these presents, grant to the aforesaid 
mayor, jurats, and commonalty, and their successors for 
ever, that every mayor of the town aforesaid for the time 
being, from time to time for ever, whensoever it shall 
please him, shall nominate, constitute, and elect one 
honest and fit person to be sergeant at mace in the afore- 
said town and parish, from the same time unto the feast 
of St. Michael the Archangel then next following, and on 
the same feast until a new mayor of the same town shall 
be elected, for making, performing, and executing procla- 
mations, processes, arrests, executions, and other things 
to the office of sergeant at mace pertaining or belonging, 
within the town and parish aforesaid, in like manner and 
form as any sergeant at mace in our said city of Canter- 
bury doth and executes ; and that the said sergeant at 



1548—3 EDW. VI. 

mace so nominated, constituted, and elected, may and 
shall be able to carry his mace within the limits and pre- 
cincts of the town aforesaid, from the time of his election 
until the feast of St. Michael the Archangel then next 
following, and on the same day until a new mayor 
of the same town and parish shall be elected lawfully, and 
[without] the impediment of us, our heirs, and succes- 
sors ; and if, and as often as it shall happen, that any 
such sergeant at mace shall die or amove from his office 
before the feast of St. Michael the Archangel next after 
his election or nomination, that then and so often the 
mayor of the town aforesaid for the time being, during 
his mayoralty, shall nominate^ constitute, and elect one 
other person to be sergeant at mace within the town 
aforesaid, to do and execute in form as is aforesaid, unto 
the feast of St. Michael the Archangel then next follow- 
ing, and that every person so nominated, constituted and 
elected, to be sergeant at mace in the said town, may 
lawfully and with impunity use, exercise, and perform 
all and singular the things which to the office of sergeant 
at mace pertain or belong, or which are thought to per- 
tain or belong to the office of sergeant at mace, in form 
as is aforesaid, from thence unto the feast of St. Michael 
the Archangel then next following, and on the same feast 
until a new mayor of the said town shall be elected and 
sworn. And moreover, of our more abundant grace, certain 
knowledge, and mere motion aforesaid, and by the advice 
aforesaid, we will and grant by these presents to the afore- 
said mayor, jurats, and commonalty, and their successors, 
that the same mayor, jurats, and commonalty, and their suc- 
cessors for ever, by the name of the mayor, jurats, and com- 
monalty of the town of Maidstone, in the county of Kent, may 
plead and be impleaded, prosecute and defend, answer and 
be answered, in all the courts and places of us, our heirs, 



1548—3 EDW. XI. 



Pow«r to 
bring and 
defend ac- 
tions. 



To have a 

common 

seal* 



arid successors, and other courts and places whatsoever \ 
as well in all and singular causes, actions, suits, and 
demands, as well real as personal, or mixed, as in all and 
singular other causes, businesses, and matters whatso- 
ever: and also, that the said mayor, jurats, and com- 
monalty, and their successors for ever, may have a com- 
mon seal to serve for all and singular their businesses 
and causes; and the same seal, at their pleasure, to break, 
deface, and change, and another seal to make, to be 
their common seal at their pleasure : And, moreover, of 
our abundant grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion 
aforesaid, and by the advice aforesaid, for us, our heirs 
and successors, we will, ordain, and grant, by these pre- 
sents, that the said mayor, jurats, commonalty, and their 
successors for ever, be persons fit, and in the law capable 
to purchase, receive, and take, by the names of the 
mayor, jurats, and commonalty of the town of Maidstone, 
in the county of Kent, all the lands, tenements, liberties, pri- 
vileges, franchises, and jurisdictions underwritten, to have, 
hold, and enjoy, to them and their successors for ever, or 
otherwise in any manner howsoever, although they are 
Held of us in chief or otherwise, and this without any 
other license of us, our heirs, or successors, and without 
any writ of ad quod dampnum, or any other writ for the 
same, to be sued forth, or had, or used, the statute of not 
putting lands or tenements to mortmain, or any other sta- 
tute, act,ordinance,or law to the contrary thereof, passed 
or made, in anywise notwithstanding : Moreover, know ye, 
that we, of our more abundant special grace, and of our 
certain knowledge and mere motion, and by the advice 
aforesaid, have given and granted, and, by these presents, 
do give and grant to the aforesaid mayor, j urats, and 
commonalty, and their successors for ever, view offrank- 
tiankpkdge. p\ e ^ e f a ]l and singular the inhabitants and residents 



To purchase 
lands. 



View of 



1548—3 EDW. VI. 

within the town and parish of Maidstone aforesaid, in the 
county aforesaid, and all things which to view of frank- 
pledge pertain or belong, or may pertain or belong, to 
be held before the mayor of the same town for the time 
being, in a convenient place within the same town, 
by the mayor of the same town for the time being, 
to be assigned twice in every year, to wit, one turn 
within a month after the feast of Easter, and the 
other turn within a month after the feast of St. Michael 
the Archangel: And also, we give, and, by these pre- p owero f 
sents, grant to the same mayor, jurats, and commonalty, f sslz ? ^ 
and their successors, assize and assay of bread, wine, and 
ale, and other victuals, within the town and parish afore- 
said, and the amending and correction of those who shall 
offend, or cause to be done against, the said assize, and full 
power and authority to hold before the mayor of the 
aforesaid town for the time being, in a convenient place 
Within the town aforesaid, by the mayor of the same 
town for the time being, to be assigned a certain court, 
for three weeks to three weeks, on Tuesday, and in the 
same court to hold pleas, as well of assize of novel dis- 
seisin, and other pleas, actions, and suits whatsoever, in 
anywise howsoever concerning the messuages, lands, and 
tenements, being within the town and parish of Maid- 
stone aforesaid, as actions, suits, plaints, and demands what- 
soever, as well real as personal or mixed, happening, 
arising, or accruing, within the said town and parish, or 
either of them, whether they exceed the sum of forty 
shillings or not : And also, to hear, try, and determine the To hold 
same in all things, and by all things according to the law courts * 
and custom of this kingdom of England, and full execu- 
tion thereon, to do, perform, and execute^ and to make 
and execute such processes and executions upon the same 
as is used in the city of Canterbury: and to have such 
fines, and amerciaments in the same as is used in the 






10 



1548—3 EDW. VI. 



same city of Canterbury : And also, we give and grant to 
the aforesaid mayor, jurats, and commonalty, and their 

Fines. successors, all and singular amerciaments, fines, advan- 

tages, and other profits, commodities, and emoluments 
whatsoever, in the aforesaid view of frankpledge and 
courts, or any of them, or by reason of either of them, 
or by reason of the same view of frankpledge, accruing, 

Market. arising, or coming : And also, one market within the said 
town of Maidstone, in the place there commonly called 
the Market-place, every Thursday hereafter for ever, to 
be held and kept with all stallages, customs, and other 

tour fairs, profits to markets belonging: And also, four fairs or feasts 
to be held and kept in the aforesaid town of Maidstone, 
in such place where the mayor of the same town for the 
time being, by proclamation thereof made, shall assign 
the same to be held within the same town ; to wit, one 
thereof to begin every year hereafter, for ever, at noon 
of the last day of April, and to continue until noon of the 
second day of the month of May then next following; 
the other thereof to begin in every year hereafter, for 
ever, at noon of the day of the vigil of St. Edward the 
King and Martyr, and to continue until noon of the mor- 
row of the day of the same feast then next following : And 
. the other thereof to begin in every year hereafter, for 
ever, at noon of the day of the vigil of the feast of St. 
Faith the Virgin, and to continue until noon of the morrow 
of the day of the same feast then next following : And the 
other thereof to begin in every year hereafter, for ever, at 
noon of the day of the vigil of the feast of the Purification 
of the blessed Virgin Mary, and to continue until noon of 
the morrow of the day of the same feast then next following: 
And all and singular tolls, stallages, and other things what- 
soever, arising or growing from the said fairs or feasts and 
every of them, or by reason of the said fairs or feasts or 
either of them : And a court of Pie Powder in the fairs 



1548—3 EDW. VI. II 

and markets aforesaid, and every of them, to be held, and 
all profits and emoluments, as well of the said court of 
Pie Powder, as by reason and occasion of the same com- 
ing, growing, and arising, to have, hold, enjoy, and re- 
ceive all and singular the aforesaid views of frankpledge, 
courts, leets, fines, amerciaments, markets, fairs, feasts, 
and all and singular the premises, with their appurte- 
nants, appendant and incident, to the aforesaid mayor, 
jurats, and commonalty, and their successors for ever, 
to hold of us, our heirs, and successors, by fealty only, 
and rendering, therefore, yearly to us, our heirs, and 
successors, three pounds of lawful money of England at 
our court of augmentation of the revenues of our crown, 
at the feast of St. Michael the Archangel yearly, payable 
for all rents, services, and demands whatsoever for the 
same or either of the premises, to us, our heirs, or suc- 
cessors, in anywise howsoever, to be rendered, paid, or 
done, and without account, or any thing for the same to 
us, our heirs, or successors, to be rendered, paid, or done : 
And moreover, know ye, that we of our grace, certain 
knowledge, mere motion, and by the advice aforesaid, and 
for two hundred and five pounds and four shillings of lawful 
money of England, to the hands of the treasurer of the court 
of augmentation of the revenues of our crown, to our 
use, by the aforesaid Richard Hely and John Dendley, 
inhabitants in the aforesaid town of Maidstone, and 
other persons inhabitants in the same town, paid, whereof 
we confess ourself to be fully satisfied and contented 
have given and granted, and, by these presents, do give 
and grant to the aforesaid mayor, jurats, and commonalty, 
all the late fraternity or guild of the body of Christ in 
Maidstone, in the said county of Kent, now dissolved : 
And our one messuage, commonly called the Brother- 
hood Hall, situate in Maidstone aforesaid, and our one 



12 1548—3 EDW. VI. 

garden to the same messuage adjoining, in Maidstone 
aforesaid, and our one messuage, our one garden, and all 
those our lands, containing by estimation twenty-eight 
acres, situate, lying, and being in the said parish of Maid- 
stone aforesaid, and now or late in the possession and 
occupation of Thomas Broke : And our one messuage* 
our one garden, and one cart and foot- way, situate, lying 
and being in Maidstone aforesaid, now or late in the pos- 
session, occupation, and use of Robert Gosselyn : And our 
one messuage, and one curtilege, situate and being in 
Maidstone aforesaid, now or late in the possession and 
occupation of Philip Smyth : And our one messuage and 
one garden, situate, lying, and being in Maidstone afore- 
said, now or late in the possession and occupation of 
David Barbara : And our one messuage and one garden, 
with the appurtenances, situate, lying, and being in 
Maidstone aforesaid, now or late in the possession and 
occupation of William Grene : And one messuage, one 
garden, and all our land, situate, lying, and being in 
Maidstone aforesaid, now or late in the possession and 
occupation of Richard Cowdall : And our one messuage, 
and one garden, situate, lying, and being in Maidstone 
aforesaid, now or late in the possession and occupation of 
Thomas Gower : And one cottage, and one piece of land 
to the same cottage adjoining, lying and being in 
Maidstone aforesaid, now or late in the possession 
and occupation of William Kempe: And our one piece of 
land, containing by estimation three acres, lying and 
being in Maidstone aforesaid, now or late in the pos- 
session and occupation of Nicholas Coveney : And our one 
cottage and one garden, situated, lying, and being in 
Maidstone aforesaid, lately demised to farm to one 
William Little, for a term of years yet continuing : And 
our two pieces of land, commonly called Hart's Crofts, 



1548—3 EDW. VI. 13 

lying and being in Maidstone aforesaid, now or late in the 
possession and occupation of James Catlet, and all our 
land, with the appurtenances, lying and being in Maid- 
stone aforesaid, now or late in the possession and occu- 
pation of Robert Vydnam : And also all our land lying 
and being in Peckham, in the said county of Kent, now 
or late in the possession and occupation of Richard Baker : 
And also nine other cottages, situated and being in Maid- 
stone aforesaid, and in which nine messuages poor per- 
sons now dwell; — which same messuages, cottages, gar- 
dens and lands, to the said late fraternity or guild did 
late belong and appertain, and late were parcel of the 
possessions thereof. And also, for the consideration afore- 
said, and by the advice aforesaid, we have given and 
granted, and by these presents do give and grant, to the 
aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty, one chapel or 
house, commonly called Saint Faith's chapel, and one 
church -yard, or piece of land, commonly called Saint 
Faith's church-yard, situate and being in Maidstone 
aforesaid ; and which chapel and church-yard late were 
parcel of the possessions of the late College of All Saints 
of Maidstone aforesaid ; and which messuages, cottages, 
gardens, lands, chapel, and church-yard, are extended to 
the clear yearly value of ten pounds seven shillings and 
four pence. Also, we give, and by these presents grant, 
to the aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty, the re- 
versions whatsoever of all and singular the premises ; 
and also the rents, revenues, and yearly profits whatso- 
ever, reserved upon any demises and grants whatsoever, 
of the premises, or of any part thereof, in anywise how- 
soever made. And also our woods and underwoods what- 
soever of, in, and upon the premises growing and being; 
to have and to hold all and singular the aforesaid mes- 
suages, cottages, gardens, lands, tenements, way, chapel, 



14 1548—3 EDVV. VI. 

church-yard, woods, trees, rents and reversions, with all 
and singular their appurtenances, to the aforesaid mayor, 
jurats, and commonalty, and their successors for ever, to 
hold of us, our heirs and successors, as of our manor of 
East Greenwich, in the said county of Kent, by fealty 
only, in free socage, and not in chief, for all services, 
rents, and demands whatsoever, to us, our heirs or suc- 
cessors, for the same to be rendered, paid, or done. And 
also, by these presents, we give and grant to the afore- 
said mayor, jurats and commonalty, all and singular the 
issues, revenues and profits of all and singular the afore- 
said messuages, cottages, gardens, chapel and lands, and 
of other the premises, with their appurtenances, from the 
feast of Easter, in the second year of our reign, hitherto 
coming, or growing, to hold to the same mayor, jurats 
and commonalty of our special gift, without account, or 
any other thing for the same, to us or our heirs, to be 
rendered, paid, or done. And further, we will, and by 
these presents, by the advice aforesaid, grant to the afore- 
said mayor, jurats and commonalty of the town of Maid- 
stone aforesaid, and their successors, that we, our heirs 
and successors, yearly, and from time to time, will ex- 
onerate, acquit and save harmless, as well the said mayor, 
jurats and commonalty, and their successors, as the afore- 
said guild or fraternity, messuages, lands, tenements, and 
all and singular other the premises above expressed and 
specified, with the appurtenances, from all, and all 
manner of corrodies, rents, fees, annuities, pensions, por- 
tions and sums of money, and charges whatsoever, out of 
the premises, or any part thereof, issuing or payable, or 
thereupon charged or chargeable, except of the rent and 
service above by these presents reserved ; and except of 
the demises and grants for term of life, or years of the 
premises, or any part thereof, made, whereon an ancient 



1548— 3 ED W. VI. 15 

rent or more are reserved ; and except of the covenants 
in such demises; being willing, and by these presents 
firmly enjoining and commanding as well the chancellor 
and surveyors-general, and our counsel of our said court 
of augmentation of the revenues of our crown, as all re^ 
ceivers, auditors, and other officers and ministers whom- 
soever, of us, our heirs and successors, for the time being, 
that they, and every of them, upon the sole showing forth 
of these our letters patent, or an enrollment of the same, 
without any other writ or warrant, from us, our heirs or 
successors, in anywise howsoever, to be sued forth, ob- 
tained, or prosecuted, shall make, and from time to time 
cause to be made, to the aforesaid mayor, jurats and com- 
monalty, and their successors, full, entire, and due allow- 
ance, deduction, defalcation, and manifest discharge of 
all, and all manner such corrodies, rents, fees, annuities 
and sums of money and charges whatsoever, out of 
the premises as aforesaid, issuing or payable, or there- 
upon charged or chargeable. And these our letters 
patent, or an enrollment of the same, shall be yearly, and 
from time to time, as well to the said chancellor and 
surveyors general, and our counsel of our said court of 
augmentation of the revenues of our crown, as to all re- 
ceivers, auditors, and other the officers and ministers 
whomsoever, of us, our heirs and successors, for the time 
being, a sufficient warrant and discharge in this behalf. 
And moreover, by these presents, for us, our heirs and suc- 
cessors, as much as in us lies, we give and grant to the 
aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty, and their suc- 
cessors, full power and authority to erect one grammar Grammar 
school in the aforesaid town of Maidstone, and to make scho ° ' 
fit and wholesome ordinances and statutes in writing, be- 
fore the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel next com- 
ing, concerning the government, direction and order of 



16 



1548—3 EDVV. VI. 



of the mar 
ket. 



the master of the same school for the time being; and of 
the wages and salary of the same master, and also the 
scholars of the same school, and other things touching or 
concerning the same school. And which ordinances and 
statutes so to be made, we will from time to time to be 
inviolably observed for ever. And moreover, we will and 
grant, for us, our heirs and successors, to the aforesaid 
mayor, jurats and commonalty, and their successors, 
that the mayor of the aforesaid town of Maidstone, for 
the time being, shall have full power and authority to 
make, exercise, and execute in the aforesaid town and 
parish, all and singular the things which to the office of 
Mayor clerk clerk of our market in anywise howsoever pertain or be- 
long ; and that no other clerk of the market, within the 
limits and precinct of the aforesaid town of Maidstone, 
in anywise intromit himself. And we will, and by these 
presents grant, for us, our heirs and successors, to the 
aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty and their suc- 
cessors for ever, that the mayor, jurats, and their suc- 
cessors, and the greater part of the persons dwelling in 
the same town, having lands or tenements of freehold, as 
aforesaid, in the same, as is aforesaid, may have power 
and authority to make laws, statutes, and ordinances, for 
the common utility and wholesome government of the per- 
sons being in the same town, and to change the same as 
to them shall seem to be necessary, from time to time, 
for ever, in as ample manner, condition, and form, as the 
mayor, aldermen, and commonalty of the city of Canter- 
bury may lawfully do. And that the inhabitants of the 
said town and parish shall obey and observe the same 
laws and ordinances. And that our intention and purpose 
may take due effect, and that the said mayor, jurats and 
commonalty of the aforesaid town may and shall be able 
the better to maintain and sustain the said school, and 



Power to 
make laws, 



*s at Can- 
terbury. 



1548—3 EDW. VI. 17 

the master ministering in the same, and the charges there- 
of, and also other charges to the same school incumbent 
or happening — know ye, that we, of our special grace, 
and of our certain knowledge and mere motion, and also 
by the advice aforesaid, have granted and given licence, 
and by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, 
do grant and give licence, as much as in us lies, to our 
beloved the mayor and commonalty of the town of Maid- 
stone aforesaid, and their successors; that they and 
their successors may and shall be able to purchase, take, 
and receive, lordships, manors, lands, tenements, rents, 
reversions, and services, and other premises, rectories, 
tithes, and heredits whatsoever, and other possessions 
whatsoever, to the yearly value of ten pounds beyond all 
charges and reprises of any person or persons whomso- 
ever willing to give the same to them for ever, although 
the same lordships, manors, lands and tenements, or any 
part thereof, are held of us in chief, or otherwise, medi- 
ately or immediately, or of other persons or person, to have 
and to hold to them and their successors for ever, to the in- 
tent thereof to maintain the school aforesaid ; and we have 
likewise given and granted, and by these presents do give 
and grant, special licence to the same person or persons, 
that they may and shall be able to give, grant, bequeath, 
or assign, lordships, manors, lands, tenements, rents, re- 
versions and services, and other premises, to the afore- 
said mayor, jurats and commonalty of the said town, and 
their successors aforesak", to the yearly value aforesaid, 
in form aforesaid, without the impediment, impeachment, 
or grievance of us, our heirs or successors, justices, 
escheators, sheriffs, coroners, bailiffs, or other the mini- 
sters whomsoever of us or our heirs, and without any 
writ of ad quod dampnum, or any other writ, precept, or 
mandate of us, our heirs or successors, for the premises, or 

c 



18 1548—3 EDW. VI. 

any of them, in anywise howsoever to be obtained, sued 
forth, or made, and without any inquisition thereof to 
be taken, and into our chancery or elsewhere returned. 
The statute for not putting the lands and tenements to 
mortmain, or any other statute, act, or ordinance, to the 
contrary thereof, made, passed, or ordained, or any other 
thing, cause, or matter whatsoever, in any wise notwith- 
standing. And we will, and by these presents grant, to 
the aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty, and their 
successors, that they may have, and shall have, these our 
letters patent, under our great seal of England, in due 
manner, made and sealed without line or fee, great or 
small, to us in our Hanaper or elsewhere, to our use, for 
the same, in anywise howsoever, to be rendered, paid, or 
done, although express mention, &c. In testimony 
whereof, &c. witness the King at Westminster, the 
fourth day of July. 

By the King himself. 

From this charter it appears, as might be expected, that 
the fraternity established in Maidstone soon assumed to 
itself some ascendancy and government in the town ; but 
an inference arises from the recital in the charter, that 
the ascendancy, so gained by the brethren, was an usur- 
pation, and it is expressly stated to be insufficient in law 
for maintaining the government of the town. 

But whatever the former government of Maidstone 
might have been, this charter purports to introduce a 
new system of government into the place; and as the 
municipal government of the shires and boroughs, and 
the consequent appointment of their superior officers, the 
shire-reeves and port-reeves, was vested in the crown, as 
a branch of the executive power, there is no doubt that 
Edward the Sixth was constitutionally competent to 



1548— 3 ED W. VI. 19 

grant a charter for the general purposes of creating a 
municipal government within the town, and of directing 
by whom it should be exercised. 

The first object of the charter is to create a corpora- Incorpora- 
tion in Maidstone ; next to appoint a new officer, or at 
least an officer under the new name of mayor, who is to Mayor, 
preside over the corporation. It also appoints a standing 
body of thirteen of the inhabitants of the town, who are 
to be jurats, (that is, as the name imports, persons sworn,) Thirteen 
who are to make bye-laws, and perform other specified Jurats * 
functions within the borough. 

An inhabitant is appointed the first mayor, and thirteen 
inhabitants the first jurats. 

Then follows the clause of incorporation, which is im- 
portant as to the present subject of inquiry; and which, 
consistently with the intention declared in the recital of 
the charter, of incorporating the inhabitants, incorporated 
the mayor, jurats, and inhabitants, by the name of the 
mayor, jurats, and commonalty. As the mayor and jurats 
are before described as inhabitants, it is in fact simply 
an incorporation of the inhabitants, who are called the 
commonalty ; from that time therefore to the present the cor- 
poration of Maidstone means the inhabitants, described 
under the term commonalty, unless any subsequent charter, 
or law competent for that purpose, has made any alteration 
in either of these respects. 

Considering the mode in which the inhabitants are 
here incorporated, without any designation of any parti- 
cular persons as the corporators, and without any pro- 
vision for selecting any portion of the inhabitants as the 
corporators, it seems indisputable that the whole body of 
inhabitants must be taken to be incorporated. 

Who could accept the charter but the inhabitants? 
and who could be the corporators but those who accepted 

c 2 



20 



1548—3 EDW, VI. 



Annual elec- 
tion of 
mayor. 



the charter ? it is impossible to doubt that all the inha- 
bitant si were at first the corporation : and if so, what 
right had they, or any of their successors, to elect after- 
wards any select portion only of the inhabitants to form 
the corporation ? 

It appears, therefore, perfectly clear, that the king in- 
corporated the whole of the inhabitants : leaving the law 
to define who the inhabitants were ; which it readily does 
by ascertaining in the court leet who the free resiants are, 
and who are there enrolled and sworn. In the case of 
The King against Amery, 1 st Term Reports, 587, Mr. 
Justice Buller justly stated that " there was a great dif- 
ference between charters granted in general terms to in- 
corporate the inhabitants, and those which create dis- 
tinct parts of the corporate body, fill up some of the 
offices by name, and leave it open to them to elect a 
number of freemen." And he goes on to observe upon 
the distinction in that respect taken by Lord Mansfield 
and Mr. Justice Yates, in the case of the College of Phy- 
sicians. 4. Burr. 2199. 

The next material clause is that for the annual election 
of mayor ; which provides for his election by such of the 
inhabitants as have, at least, a freehold interest for their 
lives in lands and tenements in the town and parish — a 
qualification which no doubt the crown, by its charter, 
could make requisite for the electors of the mayor, be- 
cause as the crown could itself appoint that officer, it 
might grant the power of appointing him to others; and, 
if so, might of course prescribe the terms upon which 
such grant should be made, and by whom the power 
should be exercised. But it must be remembered that 
this qualification is only here required for this particular 
election, namely, of the mayor ; and that it does not affect 
other elections, the general incorporation of the inhabi- 



1548—3 EDW. VI. 21 

tants, or their other privileges ; indeed, as in this clause, 
that class of the inhabitants which are freeholders, are 
particularly described, and they are not so in the general 
clause of incorporation of the inhabitants, it seems to be 
assumed that there are persons incorporated as inhabi- 
tants, under the name of commonalty, who are not free- 
holders : and it should be observed that this clause speaks 
of inhabitants generally, and not of any selected class of 
freemen, which it could not here have failed to have done, 
if such a class had in fact existed ; and as every inhabi- 
tant freeholder would, under this clause, be entitled to 
vote, as such, in the election of the mayor, without any 
previous election by the rest of the corporation, and it 
cannot be supposed they would have that right unless 
they were members of the corporation; so it is evident 
that the rest of the inhabitants would be members of the 
corporation, although under this clause they would 
not have the right of voting for the mayor without 
having the additional qualification of being also a free- 
holder. 

The same observations are equally applicable to the Election of 
clause for the election of a mayor upon a vacancy. ^cancy? 

The clause for the election of jurats, on death or re- Election of 
moval, gives the election to the mayor and jurats, and J urats * 
makes any inhabitant eligible for that office, without re- 
stricting it to freeholders. See Rex v. Blount, Andrews, 
293, and observations post. 

The rights of pleading and being impleaded, of having pi ea ding. 
a common seal, and of purchasing lands, are all given Common 
to the commonalty, that is, as before observed, the inha- sea1, 
bitants ; and the consequence is, that all the property ac- 
quired by the corporation under that charter belonged Purchasing 
to the inhabitants. The same observation may be made an 8 * 
as to the fines of the courts, and the profits of the fairs 



22 1548—3 EDW.-VI. 

and markets, all of which also belong, by this charter, to 
the inhabitants. 
Power of The power of making bye-laws, which is given to the 

hws. nS ye ' mayor and jurats, and by express terms limited to the 
freeholders, omitting the word commonalty, shows also 
distinctly, that the freeholders were only a part of the 
commonalty, and did not include the whole of the incor- 
porated body of the inhabitants, 
Frank- There is another clause, which grants to the mavor, 

pledge. 

jurats, and commonalty, the view of frankpledge, and 
which appears to be important. Because, inasmuch as 
no mode of electing, creating, or admitting the mem- 
bers of the corporation is specified in the charter, some 
method of defining them must be looked for; and as it is 
an incorporation of the inhabitants, all of whom, of 
free conditions, owed suit and service at the view of 
frank-pledge, and were there bound to be enrolled and 
sworn to their allegiance, it seems that the resiant roll 
at the view of frankpledge must have been the record of 
the names of the corporators, the entry on the roll being 
the act which is now commonly called the admission ; 
and the administering the oath of allegiance, at the view 
of frankpledge, according to the general law, being the 
act which is now usually called the swearing-in ; for 
there is no statute or law for administering the oath of 
allegiance to a freeman, on his admission, but the gene- 
ral common law, which required that oath to be adminis- 
tered in the leet. 
1550— Within two years after the granting of this charter, 

5 Edw. VI. , . .11 c r 

there are, m the corporation books, entries or jreemen ; 
but it does not appear that there is any admission or 
entry of any freemen previous to the charter. As no 
such class of persons is referred to in it, their origin must 
be searched for elsewhere: the term "freeman" is well 



1550—5 EDW. VI. 23 

known to our early laws; the liberi homines were a class 
of persons contradistinguished from the different classes 
of villeins ; there were many modes of making villeins 
free, as by tenure of freehold lands, possession of goods 
with the consent of the lord, and by many other acts of 
the lord, as well as by the villein being enrolled in any 
privileged town for a year and a day, without claim of the 
lord, (see charter of William I. Ld. Litt. Hist. Hen. II, 
Appendix, 1st vol. p. 526, and Glanville 76,) or the vil- 
lein was made irreclaimably free by a service for seven 
years with any other person away from the lord; (see the 
Regiam Magistatem Burgorum, chap. 12, and Kitch. 
6, 19, 45,91, and 103;) and by any other act which 
was inconsistent with the right which the lord had over 
his villein. All persons also holding by free tenure, were 
free by tenure, and those born of free parents, by birth. 
Besides this general class of freemen, there seems also 
to have sprung up, before the reign of Edward the Sixth, 
a class of persons who were made free by guilds, mys- 
teries, and corporations : these were chiefly with respect 
to trade ; and this class appears to differ from the ancient 
liberi homines of the common law, or at least from the 
citizens or burgesses of cities or boroughs. Thus, in 
the first chapter of the statutes of Edward the Fourth, 
for the confirmation of the liberties granted by Henry 
IV. V. and VI., guilds and fraternities appear to be 
mentioned as a distinct species of corporation from mayor 
and commonalty, or sheriffs, or bailiffs and commonalty ; 
an inference which is strengthened by the omission of 
guilds and fraternities in a subsequent part of the same 
statute, where cities, towns, and boroughs, and mayors 
and commonalties, &c. are mentioned. 

The statute of the 3d Edward IV. cap. 4. for regulat- 
ing the importation of certain merchandizes into England, 



24 1550-5 EDW. VI. 

speaks, in the 4th section, of crafts and mysteries in the 
cities, boroughs, towns, and villages, and their wardens; 
and another part of the same section speaks of cities, 
boroughs, towns, and villages, having no such crafts or 
mysteries : from which it appears, that these crafts and 
mysteries were not necessarily parts of the corporations 
of the cities, boroughs, towns or villages; but, on the 
contrary, that there were many cities, boroughs, town?, 
and villages without them. 

Persons belonging to these crafts might dwell or in- 
habit within the places where the crafts were situated 
or not, according to circumstances ; as appears by the 
statute of 7th Edward IV. as to the worsted weavers of 
Norwich; and the statute of the 22d Edward IV. 1482, 
cap. 8, as to the town of Berwick, speaks of the burgesses 
and freedmen of Berwick as if they were of different 
and distinct classes. 
1551— Among the entries of freemen are these: " Richard 

Piers, sworn and entered to be a freeman of, &c. before 
the mayor, chamberlain, and other of the jurats, agreeing 
with the chamber for his freedom. — William Beale, free- 
holder, sworn and entered to be a. freeman of the company 
of drapers of this town, before the mayor, chamberlain, 
and other of the jurats, and hath agreed with the cham- 
ber for his freedom. 

" Richard Huggins, *1 

" Andrew Vydyan, V Freeholders, took oaths/' 

" Thomas Maplesden, j 

The first entry does not state of what Piers was 
sworn a freeman ; little, therefore, can be inferred from 
that entry. 

The next, of Beale, states him to be a freeholder, and 
consequently he was a freeman or liberi homo by tenure ; 
it was not, therefore, necessary for him to be made a 






1551—6 EDW. VI. 25 

freeman, for the purpose of giving Iiim a claim, as an in- 
habitant, to be of the corporation ; but he is admitted a 
freeman of the company of drapers evidently for the pur- 
poses of trade alone, and this, as well as the last admis- 
sion, was before the mayor, chamberlain, and jurats, no 
doubt under the authority of the statute of the 14th and 
15th Henry VIII. cap. 2, which related to trade, and not 
to burgesship. 

As to the freeholders who took the oaths, it does not 
appear what the oaths were, by whom they were admi- 
nistered, or at what court or meeting. They being free 
by tenure, if they were also inhabitants within the bo- 
rough, would be bound to take the oath of allegiance at 
the court leet of the borough ; which in all probability is 
the act recorded ; and if so, it is their legal admission afc 
burgesses. 

Or if they are only admitted into some company or 
craft, then (as observed before) it only relates to their 
right of trading, and could not make them burgesses or 
members of the corporation, notwithstanding the usurpa- 
tions to that effect which have prevailed in some few 
boroughs. 

The next material document is the return of members 
to Parliament for this borough, of the 6th Edward VI., 
three years after the granting of the charter by that 
King, and in the same or following year with the entries 
mentioned above. 

This is said to be the first return for this place ; but it 
does not absolutely follow that it was the first time it re- 
turned, because this is the earliest return now extant, in- 
asmuch as there is a considerable interval prior to the 
reign of Edward VI., during which the parliamentary 
returns are not now to be found. 

This return establishes that the members were then 



26 1.553—7 EDW. VI. 

elected by the inhabitants, for the election is stated to be 
by the commonalty, who, it will be recollected, appear 
by the charter to be the inhabitants. 

The following is a copy of the return : 
" Maidstone. An indenture made between the sheriff, of 
the first part, and the mayor, jurats, and common- 
alty, of the second part, who elected Wutton, 
and Saville, and put their seals." 
1553— This return of members to Parliament was disputed in 
the 7th of Edward VI. as appears by the journals of that 
time, but not on the ground of their being elected by an 
improper class of voters, but on the question whether 
Maidstone was entitled to have burgesses in Parliament 
or not. 

The charter was directed to be perused, and in the 
mean time the burgesses were to absent themselves from 
the house. What was the final result of this inquiry does 
not appear ; the perusal of the charter could not in fact 
have communicated any information upon the subject, as 
the return of members is not mentioned in it. 

It seems, however, that Maidstone did not return 
members to any of the Parliaments during the reign of 
Queen Mary; nor in fact till the 5th of Elizabeth, the 
first Parliament after the grant of that Queen's charter. 

Queen Mary, in the fifth year of her reign, upon the 
ground of Sir Thomas Wyatt's rebellion, who was then 
lord of the town, as descendant from Sir Heniy Wyatt, 
the grantee of Henry VIII., seized, as it is said, the 
liberties and charter of this town into her own hands. 
1559— But be that as it may, Queen Elizabeth, in the second 

2Ehz * year of her reign, granted a new charter " to her sub- 
jects inhabiting the town and parish of Maidstone ;" and 
Mayor. appointed, like the charter of Edward VI., an inhabitant 

Thirteen f . . . . . . 

jurats, to be the mayor, and thirteen inhabitants to be the jurats. 



1559—2 ELIZABETH. 27 

It then in a similar manner incorporated the mayor, 
jurats and inhabitants, by the same name, of the mayor, 
jurats and commonalty. 

The clause also for the annual election of mayor, with 
the exception of the two words " vel de/' which, in order 
to make the clause intelligible, must be treated as an 
interpolation), is similar to that in the charter of Edw. VJ.; 
as are also the clauses for the election of a mayor and 
jurats upon vacancies, and for the appointment of a 
sergeant at mace. The usual corporate powers, and the 
view of frankpledge, assize of bread, and the courts, 
market and fairs, are all granted as by Edward VI. ; after 
which the charter proceeds to enlarge and further de- 
scribe the jurisdiction of the mayor, particularly making 
him a justice of the peace for the borough. 

Then follows a clause which is material in the present Exemption 
inquiry. The commonalty (before shown to be the inhabi- rom Junes ' 
tants) are exempted from serving upon juries out of the 
town of Maidstone : a privilege which no doubt the crown 
could grant them on the reasonable consideration of their 
serving on all juries within the town; because the crown 
could, by its prerogative, direct at what time and place, 
and by whom, and within what limits, any jurisdiction 
should be exercised ; and if a limited jurisdiction was 
established in any particular place, (as by this charter in 
Maidstone,) whereby all the functions of judicature were 
to be exercised within the place, for the convenience of 
the inhabitants, and to the relief of the jurisdiction of the 
county at large, it was but reasonable that the inhabi- 
tants should perform all the duties arising out of such a 
jurisdiction, and be released from the same duties in the 
county. But it follows that all the inhabitants were sub- 
ject to this burthen, and entitled to the corresponding 
exemption : and it is equally clear, upon the principle on 



28 1559—2 ELIZABETH. 

which the exercise of the prerogative is founded, upon 
the nature of the exemption, and the reason of the thing, 
that it could not be extended to non-residents: consistently 
with which, this* clause confines the exemptions to the 
commonalty, who are the inhabitants. 

This portion of the charter, therefore, like the others, 
shows that all the inhabitants were entitled to the privi- 
leges of the charter ; and non-residents could not enjoy 
them. 
Members of The clause relating to the election of members 
Parliament. Q f p ar ]j anieri t imports the same ; it places the right of 
election in the mayor, jurats and commonalty ; that is, the 
inhabitants. The wages of the members being charge- 
able upon the inhabitants, it was but reasonable that they 
should vote; at all events the express words of the charter 
so give the right. And a particular class of the inhabi- 
tants (namely the freeholders) having been mentioned in 
a former part of the charter, but omitted here, the infer- 
ence is, that the whole of the inhabitants were actually in- 
tended by this clause to be recognized as the electors. 
Bye-laws. The clause for making bye- laws does not directly af- 
for e makin e ^ ect t ^ ie P re?ent subject of inquiry ; but there is an alter- 
bye-iawsin ation in it from that of Edward VI. which requires an 

the charter 

2 James I. observation. 

In that charter the power is given to the mayor, jurats 
and freeholders, nothing being said of the commonalty ; 
but in this charter, by substituting, after the words 
" major juratores," the words (e et communis/' instead 
of " et successores sui," the clause is made to be ap- 
parently inconsistent, or tautologous. 

It gives the right to the mayor, jurats and commonalty, 
(which, as observed before, includes all the inhabitants,) 
and then goes on to add a particular class of the inhabi- 
tants, namely, the freeholders, who were before included 






1559—2 ELIZABETH. 29 

in the entire body. It seems difficult to explain this clause, 
which does not in any other respect purport to vary from 
that of Edward VI., but by the supposition that the above 
words were substituted by mistake. 

It should, however, be remarked, that there is a strik- 
ing tautologous expression in the clause, giving the ex- 
emption from juries to the mayor, jurats and commonalty, 
which included all the inhabitants ; but nevertheless the 
clause goes on to add, " and all the inhabitants" within the 
town and parish; respecting which it may be observed, that 
such tautologous expressions are by no means unusual in 
charters of that date,* but even if a critical applicatioi 
of every word in the charter is necessary, this passage 
seems capable of this explanation, that the first terms, 
" mayor, jurats and commonalty,'* are applicable to all 
those who had been duly sworn and enrolled at the view 
of frankpledge; and the other terms, " all the inhabitants" 
may be applied to those who, having become inhabitants 
subsequently to the last court, were not on that account, 
or for some other reason, enrolled and sworn. 

This, however, does not affect the present question, 
respecting which it is sufficient to observe, that the clear 
result of this charter also is, that all the inhabitants 
were the corporators under it, and that non-residents could 
not be entitled to its privileges. 

For the more perfect information of the reader, and 
that the accuracy of these observations may be the more 
easily canvassed, we subjoin a copy of this charter. 

* In a case mentioned in a note in Andrew's Reports, p. 11. it is said, 
that in a suit in the ecclesiastical court against churchwardens for an 
account, to which they pleaded that they had passed their account be- 
fore the minister " and a majority of the inhabitants and parishioners," 
it was held that the plea must be taken to mean parishioners inhabit- 
ing in the parish; and is not to be understood disjunctively, which no 
doubt is the sense of the thing, and the proper manner in which these 
apparently tautologous passages should be construed. 



30 1559-2 ELIZABETH. 

The Twelfth Part of the Second Year of the Reign of 
Queen Elizabeth. 

Of a grant The Queen, to all to whom, &c. greeting : Whereas 
of r Maid-° Wn tne ru ^ e ana * government of every people being divided 
stone. an( j se p ara ted amongst themselves, and by no legal polity 

reduced into one body, are not kept and exist in so good 
estate and tranquillity as those whereof the divers mem- 
bers into one body politic, by the force of good laws, are 
drawn together, united, and consolidated : Therefore, 
we, by the advice of our dear counsellors, willing that 
our town and parish of Maidstone, in our county of Kent, 
and our subjects the inhabitants of our town and parish 
aforesaid, as well for their common utility and advantage 
as for the relief of other our subjects frequenting the 
same town for transacting their necessary business, be- 
cause the same town and parish are the chief port of the 
river Medway, commonly called the Water of Medway, 
and by the same water have many great advantages, as 
well by the arriving of merchandize, as by divers other 
ways and means, and intending that the same town and 
parish may be brought into and hereafter preserved in a 
better state, as well in building as in good rule, into one 
body politic will the same to be incorporated and erected ; 
and do, for us, our heirs and successors, of our special 
grace, and of our certain knowledge and mere motion, 
ordain, nominate, make, and create the honest man, Wil- 
liam Grene, an inhabitant within the said town of Maid- 
Creation of stone, mayor of the same town and parish, to execute the 
office of mayorality of the same town and parish hence- 
forth, unto the second day of November, commonly 
called the Commemoration of All Souls, and on and from 
the same day until another person shall be elected mayor 
of the said town and parish : And also, by these presents, 



1559—2 ELIZABETH. 31 

we ordain, nominate, make, and create the aforesaid 
William Grene, William Mowseherste, William Collett, 
William Filden, James Catlet, Richard Hoker, James 
Brisbridge, Clement Lutwycke, William Smyth, Ambrose 
Ippinberye, Nicholas Austen, and Thomas Beale, inha- 
bitants within the said town and parish of Maidstone, 
jurats of the same town and parish : And that every of Jurats. 
the aforesaid jurats shall be a jurat of the town and 
parish aforesaid for the term of his life, if it shall so seem 
good to the mayor and other the jurats and com- 
monalty of the town and parish aforesaid : And also, of 
our grace, certain knowledge and mere motion aforesaid, 
and by the advice aforesaid, we will and grant, for us, our 
heirs and successors, that the said mayor, and jurats, 
and inhabitants, within the said town and parish of Maid- 
stone, henceforth in deed and name, be and shall be in- 
corporated and created into one body politic, by the name 
of the mayor, jurats, and commonalty of the town and Corporate 
parish of Maidstone, in the county of Kent, and the same 
mayor, jurats, and commonalty into one body politic, 
by the name aforesaid, we make, ordain, erect, create, 
nominate, and declare, by these presents, for ever really 
to endure : And further, we will, and for us, our heirs 
and successors, of our grace, certain knowledge, and 
mere motion aforesaid, and by the advice aforesaid, 
grant, that the limits and precincts of the town and parish Limits of 
aforesaid, as to all and singular the things to take effect p°^ nd 
in these our present letters patent contained and speci- 
fied, extend themselves through the whole town of Maid- 
stone, [and through the whole parish of All Saints of 
Maidstone, in the aforesaid county of Kent, for ever : And 
further, of our grace, certain knowledge and mere mo- 
tion aforesaid, and by the advice aforesaid, we do, for us, 
our heirs and successors, grant to the aforesaid mayor, 



32 1559- 2 ELIZABETH. 

jurats, and commonalty, and their successors, that the 
jurats of the said town or parish, or the greater part of 
the jurats aforesaid, for the time being, from time to 
time, every year henceforth and for ever, on the aforesaid 
second day of November, commonly called the Com- 
memoration of All Souls, may meet in some other conve- 
nient place by the time assigned, according to their plea- 
sure, within the said town of Maidstone, and there name 
Nomination and assign two men, then being jurats of the said town and 
jurats° and V ar ^ s K or of other per sons inhabiting in the same town cr 
election of parish, and having lands or tenements of freehold in their 
mayor. own right, for term of their life at the least, to the intent and 
purpose that the said other persons so inhabiting in the said 
town or parish, and having lands or tenements of freehold 
aforesaid, then there present, or the greater part of them y 
may elect a man from the same two jurats so named and 
assigned, to be named and assigned to bear the office of 
mayoralty of the said town and parish, and to be mayor 
of the same town and parish for the year then following : 
And that he of the said two jurats so named and assigned, 
to be named and assigned, who, by the said other persons 
so inhabiting, and having lands or tenements of freehold, 
or by the greater number of the same persons then there 
present, shall be elected to bear the office of mayoralty of 
the said town and parish, shall be mayor of the said town 
and parish aforesaid, and bear the office of mayor of the 
same town and parish for one whole year then next fol- 
Oathof lowing, if he shall so long live : And that the same per- 
son, so elected to be mayor of the town and parish afore- 
said, and every other person who shall be so elected to 
be mayor of the said town and parish, shall take a cor- 
poral oath before his last predecessor in the same office, 
if his same predecessor shall be then living, and then 
present, in the aforesaid place, where the election afore- 



inayor. 



1559—2 ELIZABETH. 33 

said shall be made : And if his predecessor shall be then 
dead or absent, then before the other jurats of the town 
and parish aforesaid there present, for the faithful execu- 
tion and true use of the said office, in the like manner 
and form as the mayor of our city of Canterbury is used 
to swear : And moreover, we will and grant to the afore- 
said mayor, jurats and commonalty, and their successors, 
by these presents, that if, and so often as it shall happen, 
from time to time, that any person, being mayor of the 
same town and parish, shall die during the time in which Death of 

mayor. 

he was mayor of the town and parish aforesaid, or from 
his office aforesaid amove within the year next after 
his election and admission, that then, and so often, 
the jurats of the said town and parish for the time 
being, from time to time for ever, at such time which 
to the same jurats for the time being, or the greater 
part of them, shall seem good and expedient, may 
meet in a convenient place, within the town aforesaid, 
by them assigned at their pleasure, and there name and 
assign two persons then being jurats of the same town Nomination 
and parish, other persons inhabiting in the aforesaid town j ura ts. 
and parish, and having lands or tenements in freehold as is 
aforesaid, then and there being present, to the intent and 
purpose that the said other persons, or the greater part 
of them, may elect one from the same two jurats so named Election of 
and assigned, to bear the office of mayoralty of the said ^JJ, new 
town and parish, and to be mayor of the same town and 
parish, henceforth unto the aforesaid second day of No- 
vember, commonly called the Commemoration of All 
Souls, then next following, and on and from the same day, 
until another person shall be elected to be mayor of the 
same town and parish : And that the said other persons 
inhabiting in the said town or parish of Maidstone, and 
having lands or tenements of freehold, then and there pre- 
sent, or the greater part of them, may elect one from the 

D 



34 



1559—2 ELIZABETH. 



same two jurats so named and assigned, to be named and 
assigned to bear the office of mayoralty of the said town 
and parish, and to be mayor of the same town and parish 
from the same time, unto the aforesaid second day of 
November, commonly called the Commemoration of All 
Souls, then next following, and that he of the said two 
jurats so named and assigned, to be named and assigned, 
who, by the greater number of the said other persons 
inhabitants in the said town or parish, and having lands 
or tenements of freehold, shall be elected to bear the 
office of mayoralty of the said town and parish, and to be 
mayor of the same town and parish, from the same time, 
unto the second day of November, commonly called the 
Commemoration of All Souls, then next following, and on 
and from the same day until a new mayor in the same 
town and parish shall be elected : And that the same 
person so elected, and every person who shall be so 
elected to be mayor of the town and parish aforesaid, 
Oath of new shall take a corporal oath, before the other jurats of the 
same town and parish then and there present, for the faith- 
ful execution and true use of his said office, in manner and 
form aforesaid. Also, we will, and for us our heirs and suc- 
cessors of our grace, certain knowledge and mere motion 
aforesaid, and by the advice aforesaid, grant, by these pre- 
sents, to the aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty, and 
their successors for ever, that so often as it shall happen that 
either of thejurats of the town (*and parish) aforesaid, for 
the time being, shall die, or from the office of jurat of the 
town (and parish) aforesaid amove, that then and so often 
it shall be lawful to the mayor and jurats of the said town, 
(and parish,) or the greater part (of the jurats) of the 
town (and parish) aforesaid, for the time being, from 
time to time for ever, at such time as to them it shall seem 



mayor. 



Death of a 
jurat. 



Farkh is here added, not in Edw. VI. 



1559—2 ELIZABETH. 35 

good and expedient, in a convenient place by them 
assigned at their pleasure within the said town (Edw. VI. 
and parish) to meet, and there elect or name one or more 
of the other persons then inhabiting within the same town, Choice of a 
(or parish,) and then not being jurats of the same town, Jurat * 
(and parish,) to be jurats of the town (and parish) afore- 
said] and that every person so elected and named to be a 
jurat of the said town, (and parish,) from the time of such 
election, shall be a jurat of the same town, (and parish,) if 
it shall so seem good to the mayor and other the jurats 
and commonalty aforesaid, during his or their life or lives. 
And that if a crime, or other sufficient and notorious de- 
fault, in any of the jurats there shall be found, that then the 
same mayor and other the jurats and commonalty of the 
town and parish aforesaid may amove and expel him from 
the office of jurat of the town (and parish) aforesaid, and 
another in his stead elect, make and appoint, inform afore- 
said. Also, we will, and for us, our heirs and successors, 
by these presents, grant to the aforesaid mayor, jurats, 
and^commonalty, and their successors for ever, that every 
mayor of the town and parish aforesaid for the time 
being, from time to time for ever, whensoever it shall 
please him, shall name, constitute, and elect one honest 
and fit person to be sergeant at mace in the aforesaid town sergeant at 
and parish, from the same time unto the second day of mace * 
November, commonly called the commemoration of All 
Souls, then next following, and on and from the 
same day until a new mayor of the same town and parish 
shall be elected, for proclamations, processes, arrests, 
executions, and other things whatsoever to the office of 
sergeant at mace incumbent, belonging, or appertaining 
within the town and parish aforesaid, to be done, per- 
formed, and executed in as ample and like manner and 
form as any sergeant at mace in our city of Canter- 
bury doth and executeth, or can and may be able to do 

d 2 



36 1559—2 ELIZABETH. 

and execute within our same city. And that the said 
sergeant at mace so named, constituted and elected, may 
and shall be able to carry his mace within the limits and 
precincts of the town and parish aforesaid, from the time 
of his election unto the second day of November, com- 
monly called the commemoration of All Souls, then next 
following, and on and from the same day until a new 
mayor of the same town and parish shall be elected and 
sworn, lawfully and without the impediment of us, our 
heirs or successors. And if, and so often as it shall 
happen, that any such sergeant at mace shall die, or from 
his office aforesaid amove, before the second day of No- 
vember, commonly called the commemoration of All 
Souls, next following after his election or nomination* 
that then, and so often, the mayor of the town and parish 
aforesaid for the time being, during his mayoralty, shall 
name, constitute and elect one other fit and honest person 
to be sergeant at mace within the town and parish afore- 
said, to do and execute, in form as aforesaid, unto the 
second day of November, commonly called the commemo- 
ration of All Souls, then next following ; and that every 
person so named, constituted and elected to be sergeant 
at mace in the said town and parish, may and shall be 
able, lawfully and with impunity, to use, exercise and 
perform all and singular 'those things which to the office 
of sergeant at mace appertain or belong, or which are 
esteemed to appertain or belong to the office of sergeant 
at mace, in form aforesaid, thenceforth unto the second 
day of November, commonly called the commemoration 
of All Souls, then next following, and on and from the 
same day until a new mayor of the said town and parish 
shall be elected and sworn. And moreover, of our more 
abundant grace, certain knowledge and mere motion 
aforesaid, and by the advice aforesaid, we will and grant, 
by these presents, to the aforesaid mayor, jurats and 



1559—2 ELIZABETH. 37 

commonalty, and their successors, that the same mayor, 
jurats and commonalty, and their successors for ever, by 
the name of the mayor, jurats and commonalty of the 
town and parish of Maidstoue,in the county of Kent, shall 
and may be able to plead and be impleaded, sue and defend, Power t0 

sue and be 

answer and be answered, in all the courts and places of sued by cor- 
us, our heirs and successors, and other courts and places P oratename * 
whatsoever, as well in all and singular causes, plaints, 
actions, suits and demands, as well real as personal, or 
mixed, as in all and singular other causes, businesses and 
matters whatsoever. And also that the said mayor, jurats 
and commonalty, and their successors for ever, may have 
a common seal, to serve for all and singular their busi- Common 
nesses and causes, and the same seal at their pleasure may sea1, 
break, deface, and change, and another seal make, to be 
their common seal, at their pleasure. And moreover, of 
our more abundant grace, certain knowledge and mere 
motion aforesaid, and by the advice aforesaid, for us, our 
heirs and successors, we will, ordain, and grant, by these 
presents, that the said mayor, jurats and commonalty, and 
their successors for ever, be persons able and in law 
capable to purchase, receive and take, by the names of the 
mayor, jurats and commonalty of the town of Maidstone, 
in the county of Kent, all lands, tenements, hereditaments, To take 
liberties, privileges, franchises, and jurisdictions, to an s * 
have, hold and enjoy, to them and their successors 
for ever, or otherwise in any manner howsoever, although 
they shall be held of us in chief or otherwise, and this 
without any other licence of us our heirs or successors, 
and without any writ of ad quod dampnum, or any other 
thing for the same to be sued forth, or had, or used, the 
statute of not putting lands and tenements to mortmain, 
or any other statute, act, ordinance, provision, or law to 
the contrary thereof passed or made, in anywise not- 
withstanding. Moreover, know ye, that we, of our more 



38 1559—2 ELIZABETH. 

abundant special grace, and of our certain knowledge 
and mere motion, and by the advice aforesaid, for us, our 
heirs and successors, have given and granted, and by these 
presents do give and grant, to the aforesaid mayor, jurats 

View of and commonalty, and their successors for ever, view of 

fran p e ge - frankpledge of all and singular the inhabitants and 
res l ants within the town and parish of Maidstone 
aforesaid, in the county aforesaid, and all things which to 
view of frankpledge pertain or belong, or may pertain 
or belong, to be holden before the mayor of the town 
and parish aforesaid for the time being, in a convenient 
place within the same town, by the mayor of the same 
town and parish for the time being, assigned twice in 
every year, to wit, the one time within a month after the 
feast of Easter, and at the other time (* within a month) 
after the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel. And also 
we give, and by these presents grant, to the same mayor, 
jurats and commonalty, and their successors, assize and 

Assize of assay of bread, wine and beer, and of other victuals, 
within the town and parish aforesaid, and the amend- 
ment and correction of those who shall offend or cause to 
be done against the assize, and full power and authority 
to hold before the mayor of the town and parish afore- 
said for the time being, in a convenient place within the 
town and parish aforesaid, by the mayor of the town and 
parish aforesaid for the time being assigned, a certain court 
from fourteen days to fourteen days, on Tuesday, and in the 

Court. same court to hold pleas, as well of assize of novel disseisin, 
and other pleas, actions, plaints, and suits whatsoever, in 
anywise howsoever concerning messuages, lands, and 
tenements, being within the town or parish of Maidstone 
aforesaid, as any actions, suits, plaints, and demands what- 
soever, as well real and personal as mixed, happening, 

* These, or some such words, are omitted in the record. 



1559—2 ELIZABETH. 39 

arising, or growing, within the said town and parish, or 
either of them, although they exceed the sum of forty 
shillings or not ; and also the same in and by all things 
according to the law and custom of this our kingdom of 
England, to hear, deduce and determine, and full execu- 
tion thereupon to do, perform, and execute, and to make, 
render, and exercise such processes, judgments, and exe- 
cutions thereupon, as is used in our said city of 
Canterbury; and to have and receive, to their own 
proper use, such fines and amerciaments in the same 
as is used in our same city of Canterbury. And 
also we give and grant to the aforesaid mayor, jurats and 
commonalty, and their successors, all and singular amer- 
ciaments, fines, advantages, and other profits, commodi- 
ties and emoluments whatsoever, in the aforesaid view of 
frankpledge and courts, or any of them, or by reason of 
either of them, or by reason of the same views of frank- 
pledge growing, arising, or coming. And also, one Market. 
market within the said town of Maidstone, in the place 
there commonly called the Market-place, on Thursday in 
every week to be holden and kept hereafter for ever, 
with all tollages, customs, and other profits to market 
belonging. And also, four fairs or feasts to be holden Four fairs, 
and kept in the aforesaid town of Maidstone, in such 
place where the mayor of the same town for the time 
being, by proclamation thereof made, shall assign the 
same to be holden, within the same town or parish, to 
wit, one thereof to begin, in every year hereafter, at noon 
of the last day of April, and to continue until noon of the 
second day of the month of May then next following, 
another thereof to begin, every year hereafter, at the noon 
of the day of the vigil of the feast of Saint Edmund the 
King and Martyr, and to continue until the noon of the 
morrow of the day of the same feast then next follow- 
ing ; and another thereof to begin, every year hereafter 



40 1559—2 ELIZABETH. 

for ever, at noon of the day of the vigil of the feast of 
Sahit Faith the Virgin, and to continue until the noon of 
the morrow of the day of the same feast then next fol- 
lowing ; and the other thereof to begin, every year here- 
after, at noon of the day of the vigil of the feast of the Pu- 
rification of the blessed Virgin Mary, and to continue 
until noon of the morrow of the day of the same feast 
Toll. next following. And all and singular tolls, stallages, 

and other things whatsoever issuing or growing from the 
said fairs or feasts, and every of them, or by reason of the 
said fairs or feasts, or either of them, and a court of 
Pie Powder in the fairs and markets aforesaid, and each 
of them, to be holden, and all fines, amerciaments, for- 
feitures, profits, and emoluments, as well within the said 
court of Pie Powder, as by reason and occasion thereof 
coming, growing, and arising. And also, considering 
and weighing how necessary and fitting it is, that the 
mayor of the town and parish of Maidstone aforesaid for 
the time being, and all his successors, mayors of the town 
and parish aforesaid, should be justices of us, our heirs 
Mayor to be and successors, to keep the peace of us, our heirs and 
jhepeace. successors, within the liberties of the town and parish of 
Maidstone aforesaid, and to do, execute, and correct all 
other the like things within the liberties of the town and 
parish aforesaid, as and which any justice of the peace of 
us, our heirs and successors, in the county aforesaid, by 
virtue of the commission of us, our heirs and successors, 
may do, execute, correct, or amend, in the body of the 
county of Kent aforesaid, we do ordain, constitute and 
appoint, for us, our heirs and successors, the aforesaid 
mayor of our town of Maidstone one of the justices of 
us, our heirs and successors, to keep the peace within 
the town and parish aforesaid, -and within the liberties 
of the town and parish aforesaid, and also to do and 
execute all other things which to a justice assigned to 



1559—2 ELIZABETH. 41 

keep the peace of us, our heirs and successors, per- 
tains to be done, within the town and parish and liber- 
ties aforesaid, as fully, freely and entirely, and in as 
ample manner and form, as any justice of us, our heirs 
or successors, within our county of Kent aforesaid, may 
or ought to do. And further, by these presents, we will 
and grant, for us, our heirs and successors, that every 
mayor of our town and parish of Maidstone aforesaid for 
the time being hereafter shall be a justice, to keep the 
peace of us, our heirs and successors, within the town 
and parish aforesaid ; and also to do, treat of, and exe- 
cute, all and singular other things which to a justice of 
the peace helong, within the same town and parish, as 
well for the conservation of the peace of us, our heirs 
and successors, as for good rule there to be done and ex- 
ecuted, as fully and entirely, and in as ample manner and 
form, as any justice of us, our heirs or successors, in the 
body of our said county of Kent may or ought to do. 
And further, of our more abundant grace, certain know- 
ledge and mere motion, and by the advice aforesaid, for 
us, our heirs and successors, we will and grant, by these 
presents, to the aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty 
of our town and parish of Maidstone aforesaid, and their 
successors, that the aforesaid mayor, jurats and common- 
alty of the town and parish of Maidstone, and their 
successors, and all the inhabitants within the town and 
parish aforesaid, or within the liberties of the same, 
henceforth for ever, be exempt and exonerated from all Exemption 
and all manner of juries and inquisitions to be returned, om J unes ' 
had, or taken before any the justices whomsoever of us, 
our heirs or successors, except in our said town of Maid- 
stone, although we, our heirs or successors, be parties in 
the same juries or inquisitions. And also, we will, 
and for us, our heirs and successors, grant, that they, or 



42 1559—2 ELIZABETH. 

either of them, shall not be returned or compelled to ap- 
pear in any such inquisitions or juries, unless only in 
those which shall be determined and ended in the aforesaid 
town of Maidstone. And for greater security, that the 
aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty aforesaid, and all 
the inhabitants aforesaid, and every of them, may have 
and enjoy to themselves for ever this our exemption, ac- 
cording to the form 'and effect of these our letters patent, 
and grant of we do, for us, our heirs and successors aforesaid, by 
appearance tnese presents, of our grace, certain knowledge and 
mere motion aforesaid, and by the advice aforesaid, grant 
to the aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty of the 
town and parish of Maidstone aforesaid, and their suc- 
cessors, all and all manner of issues and sums of money 
forfeited or lost to be forfeited or lost by either or any of 
the inhabitants of the town or parish of Maidstone afore- 
said, to be levied by them, or by their minister or minis- 
ters for ever, by reason of any forfeiture for not appearing 
in any such juries or inquisitions taken or to be taken 
without the town and liberties aforesaid. And moreover, 
of our grace, certain knowledge and mere motion afore- 
said, and by the advice aforesaid, we do, for us, our heirs 
and successors, by these presents, grant to the aforesaid 
mayor, jurats and commonalty, and their successors, that 
they and their successors may have for ever, all and sin- 
gular goods and chattels waived and estrays happening, 
growing or arising, from time to time hereafter, within 
the said town or parish, to be taken and seized by them, 
Waifs and or by their minister or ministers. And, by these pre- 
sents, we will, for us, our heirs and successors, that no 
sheriff of our county of Kent aforesaid, or any other minis- 
ter of us, our heirs or successors, of our county of Kent 
aforesaid, in anywise howsoever intromit himself, or 
themselves, to take such goods and chattels, waifs or es- 
trays, or any part thereof, happening, growing or arising 



estravs. 



1559—2 ELIZABETH. 43 

within the town or parish of Maidstone aforesaid. And 
also, of our more ample grace, and of our certain know- 
ledge and mere motion aforesaid, and also by the advice 
aforesaid, we do, for us, our heirs and successors, grant, 
by these presents, to the aforesaid mayor, jurats and 
commonalty aforesaid, that they and their successors for 
ever may have authority and power, so often as the Par- 
liament of us, our heirs or successors shall be sum- 
moned, to meet in a convenient place by them assigned, 
at their pleasure, within the said town of Maidstone, and 
there to elect two fit persons for burgesses of the town 
and parish of Maidstone aforesaid \ and for the said mayor, 
jurats and commonalty to be at the Parliament of us, our Power to 
£,eirs or successors, and there, as well for the utility of Members of 
our kingdom of England as for the advantage and utility Pwi»m ent - 
of the town and parish aforesaid, to act as it shall be ex- 
pedient and good ; and the names of which persons so 
elected or to be elected for burgesses of the Parliament of 
us, our heirs and successors, as aforesaid, we will that 
the aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty, and their 
successors, shall certify in due manner to the sheriff of 
us, and our successors, of our county of Kent aforesaid 
for the time being, and the names of which persons so 
elected or to be elected, and to the aforesaid sheriff cer- 
tified, w r e will that the said sheriff of us, our heirs or 
successors, of our county aforesaid for the time being 
shall return to our said Parliament, and that those per- 
sons whose names shall be so returned shall be the bur- 
gesses of the same town, and members of the said Parlia- 
ment of us, our heirs or successors. And moreover, of Ft 

} ' Extent of 

our grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion afore- liberties, 
said, and by the advice aforesaid, by these presents, we 
will and grant to the mayor, jurats and commonalty 
aforesaid, and their successors, that all and singular the 
liberties aforesaid do extend themselves by the river 



44 1559—2 ELIZABETH. 

Med way, commonly called the water of Med way aforesaid, 
from a certain bridge called East Farliegh Bridge, unto 
a certain place called Hawkwood ; and that the aforesaid 
mayor, and also ail and singular the mayors of the town 
aforesaid for the time being hereafter for ever, may have 
authority and power, by their sergeant at mace for the 
time being, to arrest and take, upon any actions, 
suits, or plaints whatsoever, any person or persons 
whomsoever, between the limits aforesaid, upon the 
Conservator water aforesaid. And also, that the aforesaid mayor, 
of the water. j urats an( j commonalty, and their successors, may have 
full power and authority to survey, correct and reform, in 
the water aforesaid, all and singular unlawful nets, and 
also all and singular unfit and unlawful fishings, ami 
all and singular other defects whatsoever, being done, 
happening to be done, or to happen in the water afore- 
said, and within the limits aforesaid, by any person or 
persons whomsoever, so often as to the aforesaid mayor, 
jurats and commonalty, and their successors, it shall seem 
good and expedient, to have, hold, enjoy and receive 
all and singular the aforesaid view of frankpledge, courts, 
fines, amerciaments, markets, fairs, feasts, and all and 
singular the premises, with their appurtenances, appen- 
dant and incident, to the aforesaid mayor, jurats and com- 
Habendum. monalty, and their successors for ever, to hold of us, 
our heirs and successors, by fealty only, and rendering 
therefore yearly to us, our heirs and successors, three 
pounds of lawful money of England, at our exchequer, at 
the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel, yearly payable, 
for all services, rents, and demands whatsoever, for the 
same, or any of the premises, to us, our heirs and suc- 
cessors, in anywise howsoever to be rendered, paid, or 
done, and without account, or any other thing for the 
the same, to us, our heirs and successors, to be rendered, 






1559—2 ELIZABETH. 45 

paid, or done. And moreover, by these presents, we do, 
for us$ our heirs and successors, as much as in us lies, 
give and grant to the aforesaid mayor, jurats and com- 
monalty, and their successors, full power and autho- 
rity to erect one grammar school in the aforesaid town of Grammar 
Maidstone, and to make fit and wholesome ordinances 
and statutes in writing, before the feast of Saint Michael 
the Archangel next coming, concerning the government, 
direction and order of the school-master, and also of the 
scholars of the same school, and other things touching or 
concerning the same school ; and which ordinances and 
statutes so to be made, we will to be inviolably observed 
from time to time for ever. And moreover, we will and 
grant, for us, our heirs and successors, by these presents, to 
the aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty, and their 
successors, that the mayor of the aforesaid town and parish 
of Maidstone for the time being may have full authority 
and power to do, exercise and execute, in the aforesaid 
town and parish, all and singular those things which to 
the office of clerk of our market in anywise howsoever per- Clerk of the 
tain or belong ; and that no other clerk of the market in 
anywise intromit himself within the limits and precincts 
of the aforesaid town or parish of Maidstone. And we 
will, and by these presents grant, for us, our heirs and 
successors, to the before-named mayor, jurats and com- 
monalty, and their successors for ever, that the mayor, 
jurats and commonalty, and the greater part of the persons Power to 
inhabiting in the town and parish aforesaid, having lands 
or tenements of freehold as aforesaid, may have power 
and authority to make laws, statutes, and ordinances, for 
the common utility and wholesome government of the 
persons being in the same town and parish, and the same 
to change as to them shall seem necessary, from time to 
time, for ever. And that the inhabitants of the said town 



46 



1559—2 ELIZABETH. 



Power to 
take lands 
to support 
school. 



and parish be obedient to and observe such laws ar*d ad- 
monitions — And that our intent and purpose may be able 
to take, due effect, and that the said mayor, jurats and 
commonalty may, and may be able the better to main- 
tain and sustain the said school, and the master or school- 
master to minister in the same, and the charges of the 
same, and also other charges to the same school incum- 
bent or happening, know ye, that we, of our special 
grace, and of our certain knowledge and mere motion, 
and also by the advice aforesaid, have granted and given 
licence, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and suc- 
cessors, do grant and give licence, as much as in us lies, 
to the said mayor, jurats and commonalty, and their suc- 
cessors, that they and their successors may and shall be 
able to acquire, take, and receive lordships, manors, lands, 
tenements, rectories, tithes, rents, reversions, services, 
and hereditaments whatsoever, and other possessions 
whatsoever, to the yearly value of twenty pounds beyond 
all charges and reprises of any person or persons whom- 
soever willing to give or sell the same to them for ever, 
so only that the same lordships, lands and tenements, or 
any part thereof, be not held of us in chief, or otherwise, 
mediately or immediately, to have and to hold to them 
and their successors for ever, to the intent therewith to 
maintain the school aforesaid. And likewise, we have 
given and granted licence, and for us, our heirs and suc- 
cessors, do give and grant special licence, by these pre- 
sents, to the same person or persons, that they may and 
shall be able to give, grant, bequeath or assign, lordships, 
manors, lands, tenements, rents, reversions and services, 
and other premises, to the aforesaid mayor, jurats and 
commonalty of the said town and parish, and their suc- 
cessors aforesaid, to the yearly value aforesaid, in form 
aforesaid, without the impediment, impeachment or 



1559—2 ELIZABETH. 47 

grievance of us, our heirs or successors, justices, 
escheators, sheriffs, coroners, bailiffs, or any other the 
ministers whomsoever, of us or our heirs, and without any 
writ of ad quod dampnum, or any other writ, precept, or 
mandate, of us or our heirs or successors, for the premises, 
or any of the premises, in anywise howsoever, to be sued 
forth, obtained, or made, and without any inquisition 
thereof to be taken, and into our chancery, or elsewhere, 
returned, the statute of not putting lands or tenements 
to mortmain, or any other statute, act, provision, or ordi- 
nance to the contrary thereof, made, passed, or ordained, 
or any other thing, cause, or matter whatsoever, in any- 
wise notwithstanding; know ye, that we, of our grace, Power to 
knowledge and mere motion aforesaid, and also by the generally. 
advice aforesaid, have granted and given licence, and by 
these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, do grant 
and give licence, as much as in us lies, to the said mayor, 
jurats and commonalty aforesaid, and their successors, 
that they and their successors may and shall be able to 
acquire, take, and receive, lordships, manors, lands, tene- 
ments, rectories, tithes, rents, reversions, services, and 
hereditaments whatsoever, and other possessions whatso- 
ever, to the yearly value of twenty pounds beyond all 
charges and reprises of any person or persons whomso- 
ever willing to give or sell the same to them, so only that 
the same lands and tenements, or any part thereof, be 
not held of us in chief, mediately or immediately, to have 
and to hold, to them and their successors for ever, to the 
proper use and profit of the same mayor, jurats and com- 
monalty of the said town and parish of Maidstone. And 
likewise, we have given and granted licence, and for us, 
our heirs and successors, do give and grant special licence, 
by these presents, to the same person and persons, that 
they may and shall be able to give, grant, bequeath, sell, 



48 1559—2 ELIZABETH. 

or assign, lordships, manors, lands, tenements, rents, re- 
versions, services, and other premises, to the aforesaid 
mayor, jurats and commonalty of the said town and 
parish, and their successors aforesaid, to the yearly value 
aforesaid, in form aforesaid, without the impediment, im- 
peachment, or grievance of us, our heirs or successors, 
the justices, escheators, sheriffs, coroners, bailiffs, or other 
ministers whomsoever, of us or our heirs, and without 
any writ of ad quod dampnum, or any other writ, precept, 
or mandate, of us, our heirs or successors, for the pre- 
mises, or any of the premises, in anywise howsoever, to 
be sued forth, obtained, or made, and without any inquisi- 
tion thereof to be taken, and into our chancery or else- 
where returned, the statute of not putting lands and tene- 
ments to mortmain, or any other statute, act, or ordinance 
to the contrary thereof, made, passed, or ordained, or any 
other thing, cause, or matter whatsoever, in anywise 
notwithstanding. And we will, and by these presents 
grant, to the aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty, and 
their successors, that they may have, and shall have, these 
our letters patent, under our great seal of England, in 
due manner made and sealed, without fine or fee., great or 
small, to us, in our Hanaper, &c. Although express 
mention, &c. In testimony whereof, &c. witness the 
Queen at Westminster, the fourth day of December. 

By the Queen herself, &c. 



In the same year (1559) a grant was made of the 
school-house to the school-master, Ralfe Moore, and his 
successors ; and therein is a reservation to the mayor, 
jurats and commonalty, and their successors, and to all 
resiants within the town and parish of Maidstone, the 
keeping of the two law days in the hall-house, and 
other the premises, according to the ancient custom. 



1560—3 ELIZABETH, 49 

The next documents are entries which occur, in this 1560— 
and'the following year, of the admission of Edward Law 
and Nicholas Best as freemen of the mercers and arti- 
ficers companies, which must also be referred, as in the 
former, to trade. 

The constitution made in the 5th year of Elizabeth at 1562— 

/. , , 5 Elizabeth, 

the burrow-mote (which is one of our oldest courts. See 
King Edgar's Ecclesiastical Laws, anno 958. Leges 
Edgar. Will. p. 78) appears to confirm the view 
taken before of the liberi homines, and, to be explained, 
it prohibits any person (that is, any person not before 
free by birth, tenure, or service) from being made free ; 
that is, from being recognized as a freeman, and being 
enrolled and sworn as such, (not from being admitted into 
the corporation,) unless he pay 20s., excepting only free- 
holders and labourers in husbandry ; the former of whom 
were free by tenure, and the latter by their service. The 
being enrolled and sworn as a freeman did not absolutely 
make a person a member of a corporation, but only by 
consequence, if he were also an inhabitant ; the incorpo- 
ration being in law only an incorporation of the free 
inhabitants, as villeins were not recognized by the law 
as legates homines. And the fine imposed by this consti- 
tution was probably the security which the town took 
from every person not to their knowledge free by birth, 
tenure, or servitude, before they incurred the risk, on the 
one hand, of enrolling and swearing as free the villein of See Fitz. 
any lord who might proceed against them for so doing ; \y\\ 
or, on the other, of admitting into their society a stranger 
for whom they must be responsible. Every person really 
free they were bound to enrol and swear by the general 
law ; and, therefore, if this constitution is to be taken as 
generally as the terms import, it was illegal ; but if taken 
as excluding only strangers, and foreigners not known to 
the town as free, it is consistent with the general law re- 

K 



50 1562—5 ELIZABETH. 

lating to the swearing and enrolling of freemen, and the 
prevention of vagrancy. 
15 £? — , In this year there was a return of members to Parlia- 

5 Elizabeth. * 

ment, made by the mayor, jurats and commonaltie, ac- 
cording to the charter of Queen Elizabeth. This was 
; the first return for this place after that which was disputed 
in the 6 of Edward VI., and as the rights of six places to 
return members to Parliament were at this time disputed, 
and Maidstone was not one of them, it must be presumed 
that the question as to the right of this place to send mem- 
bers* to Parliament had in some manner been put at rest 
8 Elizabeth, and determined in favour of the right. Symonde Smythe, 
gent, elected jurat, refused to serve, and paid five 
marks for a fine, and was released. 

A constitution in the 9th year of the reign of Queen 
Elizabeth appears to be made partly in conformity with 
the charter of Elizabeth, and partly in violation of it. 

The following is a copy of it : — 
(i The Town and Parish of Maidstone, Constitution, 8u\ 
3d December, 9th Elizabeth. N. Ash ton, Mayor, 
7 Jurats, and 46 Freeholders. 
" Also, it is ordayned and agreed, that none other but 
such as be freeholders in their own right, at the least 
for term of life, shall presume to be at any burrow- 
mote court, or common counsel of this town, &c. 
or at the election of the mayor at any time hereafter, 
under payne of two days imprisonment, and the loss 
of five shillings to the chamber; and this word free- 
holders shall be judged and deemed of freehold of 
land or tenement within the town and parish of 
Maidstone, and the said freeholders to be of the inha- 
bitants of Maidstone, and free. The steward of the 
court present, and such lyke officers attending on 
the mayor, only except." 
The exclusion of all but freeholders from the election 



1566—9 ELIZABETH. 51 

of mayor is in conformity with the charter; but the ex- 
clusion from the burrowmote exceeds the power con- 
ceded to the corporation. The declaration, that they 
must be inhabitants, is consistent with the charter; and 
that they must be also free was required by the general 
law (as stated before), of which this part of the constitu- 
tion was only declaratory. 

Another constitution, of this date, appears also to refer J 5 i 1 / -~~' b h 
to the same obligation of being enrolled and sworn as 
freemen, to which every person was bound by law, in 
the place in which he was residing, within a year and a day, 
otherwise they were subject to be amerced for their default. 

The following is a copy of it : — 
" Constitutions, &c. 12th March, 9th Elizabeth, before 

mayor, jurats and freeholders, inter alia. 
" Also, it is constituted, &c, that every person inhabitant 
within this town and parish, not being free after one 
year's tryall, shall be double charged to every sesse 
touching the town until they shall become free." 

It would be a most monstrous and arbitrary regulation, 
and contrary to natural justice, if a person was to be sub- 
jected to this double charge, if he could not demand his 
enrolment as a freeman ; he could not be subjected to 
the charge unless he was an inhabitant, because all the 
powers of the corporation are limited to the town and 
parish ; and if he was an inhabitant, and of free condi- 
tion, he was both entitled and bound to be sworn and 
enrolled as such, which explains this constitution, and 
reconciles it to the charter, to law, and to reason. 

There is also a constitution, of this date, of which the 1569— 

n m 12Ehz. 

following is a copy : — 

"Courtof Burrowmote, 29th March, 12thElizabeth.— Per- 
sons residing out of the parish, once being free, shall, upon 
payment of annual impositions, enjoy their freedom/' ( 
e 2 



52 1571—14 ELIZABETH. 

This constitution, in its strict words, is also legal, be- 
cause a person being once made of free condition, by 
being enrolled in a privileged town, did not lose his free- 
dom by quitting the town \ and if he agreed with the 
corporation, he might be allowed to enjoy the privileges 
of trading in the town, as a freeman, without being sub- 
ject to any fine or forfeiture. But if this constitution 
should be construed to mean, that a person residing out 
of the parish should still continue to be a member of the 
corporation, then it is illegal; as being contrary to the 
charter, which incorporates the inhabitants alone, and as 
purporting to extend to non-residents some of the privi- 
leges granted by the charter, which could by law only 
be exercised by the inhabitants, as exemption from 
juries, &c. ; and some of the liabilities, as those of 
being fined and imprisoned, the being compelled to 
take offices, and to plead only within the town and 
parish, &c. which could only be enforced against the in- 
habitants. 

This distinction between the freemen and the corpo- 
rators will be strongly supported by the case of Sir Thomas 
Walton against Hanger, which will be cited hereafter. 

The constitution of this date goes a great way to show 

14 Eliza- that the freedom of the town which a non-resident was 

able to retain, was with respect to trade ; as it prohibits 

those that are not free from keeping open shops within 

the town. 

This constitution also marks the distinction between 
strangers or foreigners, and persons born in the town, 
whose free condition by birth being known to the corpo- 
ration, they would be admitted without hesitation or risk ; 
but strangers or aliens, coming into town, were not to be 
admitted without some security being given or fine paid, 
as well to guard against their being claimed as villeins, 



167\—U ELIZABETH. 53 

as to secure the town from being liable to their acts, or 
compelled to support them. 

The being free, and being one of the body corporate, 
are also here spoken of as separate things, (which in reality 
they were,) as strongly marked by some of the entries 
before observed upon ; a non-resident once enrolled as a 
freeman, being still free, although he would not be one 
of the body corporate, not being an inhabitant. 

It should also be observed, that this constitution would 
be illegal as being in restraint of trade, if it be not taken See 2dKyd, 
with this reasonable addition, that the free inhabitants of $ e q . 
the town were entitled to be sworn and enrolled as free ; 
because, otherwise, a person inhabiting there might, by 
this constitution, be prevented from exercising his trade 
at all, which is too absurd to be supported. See 
11 Co. 8. b. and 53 and 54. 

The following is a copy of the constitution upon which 
we have been observing : — 

27th May, 14 Eliz. 1571. 
(( Item : That no person not free of the town, &c. according 
to the constitutions and orders of the same corporation, 
or not born there naturally, shall keep hereafter 
open shop, &c. under penalty, until he or they be free 
of the liberties and franchises of the said town and 
parish, and one of the body of the said corporation, or 
shall be a servant or servants, according to the laws of 
this realm, and usage of the said town and parish, 
&c. and that it shall and may be lawful to and for 
the corporation of Maidstone, viz. the mayor, jurats 
and commonaltie, and their successors, by their 
officers, to levy the fines, &c." 
The same distinction between the freemen and the in- 1575— 
habitants is also apparent in an entry, the date of which beth/ 2 *' 
is supposed to be about 1575, fourteen years after the 



.54 1575—19 ELIZABETH. 

passing of the statute of 5th Eliz. cap. 4, relating to ap- 
prentices, and in conformity to which the entry seems to 
have been made. 

It speaks of the inhabitants being freemen, making 
them as distinct. There might be inhabitants who were 
not freemen, as villeins, &c. and freemen who were not 
inhabitants. In right of the former, a person would, by 
the express words of the charter, be one of the corpo- 
ration, if he were, as required by law, of free condition : 
but not so the latter, if he were not an inhabitant, which 
would only give him, as a person of free condition, a right 
to certain privileges in the place in which he was en- 
rolled as such. 

It may be very questionable whether the threatened 
consequence of loss of freedom is legal ; for it seems 
that originally disfranchisement, or expulsion from the 
decennary, was only resorted to in cases of the grossest 
misconduct, as for treason, felony, or some infamous 
crime ; and the consequence was, that a person thereby 
became an outlaw and a vagabond. 

The following is a copy of this entry : 
" It is furthermore agreed, as before specified, that no in- 
habitant being a freeman within the town and parish 
of Maidstone, shall take to his servant, in name of 
apprentice, any manner of such servant, no lesse 
time than for seven hole yeres, under payne of the 
loss of the freedom of this towne, as well of the 
master as of the apprentice that so do attempt the 
contrary." 
" It is also agreed, by condisente aforesaid, that no stranger 
coming to this towne to dwell, whose conversatione is 
not here well knowne, shall be made free of the same 
towne until he have dwelled one hole yere within 
the said towne or parish." 



1577—21 ELIZABETH. 55 

The restriction contained in the above entry, as to making 
strangers, whose conversation was not known in the 
town, free, falls in with the reason before stated for the 
imposition of a fine, and confirms the reasonable limita- 
tion, before suggested, of Confining the operation of the 
bye-laws, to the exclusion of strangers. This regulation 
is also strictly conformable with our early law, as quoted 
before from Glanville, and as it is found in all our early 
law books. 

Residence for a year and -a day in a privileged place 
made a person free. The knowledge of the party required 
by this constitution seems to be for the purpose of guard- 
ing the town from the consequences of improperly re- 
ceiving the villein of any lord who might reclaim him ; 
or a person for whose acts they might afterwards be re- 
sponsible, or whom they might be called upon to support. 

The admission of apprentices in the same year seems to 
have been done in pursuance of the statute 5th Elizabeth. 
There were 20 or 30 admitted, and the following is a 
copy of the entries : the other entries are similar : 
" 1575, April 16. Robert Harrys, tailor, apprentice to Wil- 
liam Downe, admitted." 

In this vear we find the following entries : 1557— 

°1 Eliza- 

" John Morrys admitted 10th day of March, 157/." beth. 

N. B. The words iC general consent" are used. 

" Richard Stour, clerk, curate of Maydstone and a 

preacher of Godde's Gospel, admitted." 
The insertion of the words "general consent/ 9 in one of 
these entries, is sufficient to show that the freemen ought 
to be admitted by general consent ; and the omission of 
those words in the entry in the following year does not 1578< 
(as at the best only negative evidence) outweigh the 
affirmative proof which arises from their being used in 
the former entry. 



56 1570—23 ELIZABETH. 

The entry in 1578 is as follows : 
" John Burgess admitted 24th day of April, 1578." 
1579— There is in this year an entry of the admission of Mr, 

na J71i 7 a«, 

beth. Pettynden, which seems important, and the following is 

a copy of it : 

" Maidstone, the 27th day of October, 15/9.— Thomas 
" Pettynden, gentleman, was admitted, by general 
" consent, to be one of the body politic and cor- 
" poration of the mayor, jurats and commonalty 
" of the town and parish of Maidstone, in the county 
" of Kent, and made and allowed partaker of the 
" liberties and franchises of the same town and pa- 
" rish, in all respects and conditions as a freeman 
" thereof should, may, and ought to partake, use, and 
" enjoy \ and his contribution was in consideration 
" that he had married with a jurat's widow, of the 
" town and parish of Maidstone." 
This is a direct admission into the corporation, and is 
made with general consent, and if it were possible to as- 
certain the fact, it would most probably turn out that 
Mr. Pettynden at that time became an inhabitant of 
Maidstone. 

Being before a stranger to the corporation, and not an 
inhabitant in the town, they were not obliged either to 
allow him to live there, unless he came to his own pro- 
perty, or was a householder; nor were they obliged to 
assume that he was of free condition ; but, as he had 
married a jurat's widow, in consideration of that cir- 
cumstance they consent to receive him as a free- 
man ; and if he then became an inhabitant within the 
town, he was duly admitted to be one of the corpora- 
tion. 

It should also be observed, that this entry seems to treat 
the admission into the corporation, and the being a free- 



1579—23 ELIZABETH. 57 

man, and enjoying the liberties and franchises of the 
town, as distinct acts. 

In the same year, and on the same day, we find the fol- 
lowing entry : 

" 27th October, 1579. — Thomas Ford, draper, late citizen 
" and alderman of Canterbury, was admitted, by ge- 
" neral consent, to be one of the body corporate, 
" and his charge and contribution was set down and 
" text at 8/. and was sworn in a freeman." 

This entry seems to raise the same inference which 
suggests itself in the preceding case, namely, that he had 
lately come to reside at Maidstone ; by which he had 
ceased to be a citizen and alderman of Canterbury* 

Having been in those capacities, he must have been of 
free condition ; but until he had lived a year and a day in 
the town, the mayor, &c. were not bound to take notice 
of that fact ; and as it was necessary for a person who 
claimed, as an inhabitant of any place, the privileges of 
it, to show that he was of free condition, before Ford 
could claim to be a corporator, it was necessary for him 
to be enrolled, and to take the oath of allegiance, as a 
freeman, in order to constitute him a liber et legalis homo, 
and as such entitled to all the privileges of the place in 
which he inhabited. 

For the recognition of him, therefore, as a freeman, 
and consequently enrolling and administering to him the 
usual oath as freeman, before the time the corporation 
were compelled to do so, he paid a fine, for his charge 
and contribution, of 8/. 

There is little or no doubt that the other cases in the 
corporation books, of this date, will admit of the same 
explanation. 

A son of a Mr. Maplesden, who was the then mayor, 
was also admitted about this time. The father, bein^ 



58 » 1584—26 ELIZABETH. 

mayor, was of course free, and the son, therefore, free by 
birth, being born of a father who was free: the son is 
properly admitted, as of right, without any fine. 

In further confirmation that freemen and members of 
the corporation were, at the time we are speaking of, 
distinct classes, it should also be observed, that about 
this time (at least in the 30th year of Queen Elizabeth), 
in the case of the warden and commonalty of the saddlers' 
company, 4 Co. 54. it is stated as the custom of London, 
that a freeman and citizen may devise in mortmain; 
and it is there averred, that the person whose claim was 
then in question, w T as a citizen and freeman ; which is 
consistent with the case of Sir Thomas Walter v. Hanger, 
hereafter cited. 
1584— There is a return of members to Parliament for this 

26 Ehza- place by the mayor, jurats and commonalty, that is, as 
observed before, by the inhabitants, conformably to the 
return in the 6th year of King Edward VI. and the 
charters. 

It is made between the sheriff, of the first part, the mayor 
(by name), eight jurats (by their several names), and 
twenty-six other names (without any description), of 
the other part. It witnesseth, " that we the afore* 
" said mayor, jurats and commonalty of the town 
" and parish aforesaid, have elected Thomas Ran- 
" dolph and Michael Sandys, &c. and them by us 
* and for us elected, &c. we give and grant to them, 
"jointly and severally, power for us to consent, 
" &c. In witness, we, the mayor, jurats and com- 
" monalty, put our seals. Given in the Common 
" Hall." 
The return of members this year is in precisely the 
30 Eliza- same form. 

There is a restriction as to practising trades without 



1600—43 ELIZABETH. 59 

being entered as freemen, and the observations made on jsss— 

a like entry, under the date 1571, will equally apply. beth* 1 ^ 

The return of members this year is by the mayor, ju- 1596— 

rats, and commonalty. betif lza 

It is as follows : 
" Indenture of, &c. between the sheriff and John Green, 
" the mayor, e jurat et coitat,' of the town and parish 
" aforesaid, who elect Sir Thomas Fludd and Sir 
% John Leveson, knight, who have full powers, &c. 
" In witness, &c." 
A memorandum in the corporation books of the elec- 
tion of members of Parliament, of this date, we conceive, 1600— 

- J • 1 , .j j • 1 . 1 43 Eliza- 

is, it rightly considered, an important document, with b e th. 
reference to this borough ; and if it had been submitted 
to the election committee which sat upon the return of 
this borough in 1701, and its import had been under- 
stood and duly considered, with reference to the charters, 
and the entries in the corporation books upon which we 
have already observed, the right could not, probably, 
have then been agreed to be in the freemen, but would 
have been determined to be in the inhabitants. This re-, 
turn appears to have been made at the court leet, where 
the residents or inhabitants are the only suitors; and 
though it is necessary for the inhabitants to be of free 
condition to be suitors at that court, yet the inhabitancy 
is the qualification which makes them suitors, for a free- 
man of the town, not an inhabitant, might enjoy some of 
the privileges of the town, as far at least as related to 
trade, and with reference to the statutes passed at and 
before this period, for the regulation of trade, and as re- 
cognized in the constitution observed upon before, of 
1569 ; but such non-resident freemen could not be suitors 
at the court-leet, and therefore could not have voted at 
this election, which was made at that court. 



60 1600—43 ELIZABETH. 

The entry we allude to is as follows : — 
" Maidstone. — Memorandum that at the Brotherhood- 
" hall, by an assembly of the mayor, jurats and com- 
" monalty, there at a leete, Sir Thomas Fludd and Sir 
" John Leveson, knights, were chosen and elected 
tc burgesses for the Parliament of this town and 
*' borough." 
The return also made upon this election confirms the 
view before taken of the several documents, and of this 
particular transaction ; as the return is made by the 
mayor, jurats and commonalty, by the further common 
law description of them, to which we have before al- 
luded, and which is also the proper description of the 
commonalty, or inhabitants who owed suit-royal at the 
court-leet, namely, the free and lawful men (liberi et le- 
gates homines) of the borough. The return is in the fol- 
lowing form : — 

" Indenture — 43 Elizabeth — between Heywood, mayor, 
" the jurats and commonalty of the town and parish 
" of Maidstone, being free and lawful men of the 
" borough and parish aforesaid ; witnesseth that we, 
" the said mayor, jurats and commonalty aforesaid, 
" in common-hall, have elected Sir Thomas Fludd 
" and Sir John Leveson, for our town and borough 
" &c, and give and grant to them full power in our 
" names and stead to appear, &c, and them for us 
" and our said borough to do, &c. In witness, &c. 
" we, the said mayor, jurats and commonalty, put our 
" common seal/' 
The seal is not remaining, but at the foot of the inden- 
ture is written, in a coeval hand, these words: — 
" p. majore jurat et coitat ville 
" Burgi illius, & poch. p d liber et legles." 
1603— The return, of this date, is also an important document, 

1 James I. 



1603—1 JAMES I. 61 

inasmuch as it goes one step farther, and describes the 
persons making the return (that is, those in former re- 
turns described as the commonalty, being free and lawful 
men) under the name of the " commonalty, burgesses of 
the town of Maidstone/' showing that the free and law- 
ful men of the borough, properly called " burgesses," 
were meant by the term u commonalty " which by the 
charter means inhabitants; that is, according to the 
ancient law, the inhabitant householders — those who sus- 
tain the burdens of the place, as paying scot and bearing 
lot. 

The return is as follows : — 
u Indenture between the sheriff and the mayor, jurats 
" and commonalty, burgesses of the town of Maid- 
" stone, whose names are in part subscribed ; 
" witnesseth that we, the aforesaid mayor, jurats and 
u commonalty, have elected Francis Fane and 
" Lawrence Washington, burgesses of the borough 
" and town aforesaid, to be, &c, have power for 
" themselves and the said mayor, jurats and com- 
" monalty, burgesses of the borough and town afore- 
" said, to do, &c. In witness, &c. we, the mayor, 
" jurats and commonalty, put our seals." 
The return is mutilated, and but one seal remains; it 
is signed by 

Green, mayor," and there are twenty other names, 
the last being " Wm. Gull, steward, and others, 
U to the number of those whose seals are affixed." 
In this year King James granted a charter to Maid- 1603 
stone. Although it varies from the charter of Elizabeth 
in some words, and in some minute particulars, it does 
not appear to make any essential difference in the con- 
stitution of the place. 

It speaks in its recital of the inhabitants having enjoyed 



2 James I. 



62 1603—2 JAMES I. 

Recital. many privileges under the name of the mayor, jurats and 
commonalty ; thereby confirming the view before taken of 
the previous charters, namely, that they were incorpora- 
tions of the inhabitants under the name of commonalty; 
and establishing that they had, under the former charters, 
actually enjoyed the privileges that were granted ; thus 
proving an actual usage, at the same time that it shows 
in what manner the King then construed the charter in 
this respect, notwithstanding the doubts which are after- 
wards stated to have existed as to its construction in other 
respects. What these disputes were is not perhaps ma- 
terial, and does not now distinctly appear. 

With reference to the general history of the borough, it 
seems probable that discussions were then raised, whether 
the " inhabitants" of a place could or could not be incor- 
porated. At least this point was mooted in the Dungannon 
case, (12 Co. 120, and Hobart, page 21 of the edition ef 
1641,) in the 12 James I. ten years afterwards ; and it 
is probable that the doubt in the recital of this charter, 
as to the validity of the incorporation, might be referable 
to that question. 
incorpora- The clause of incorporation of the mayor, jurats and 
tion - commonalty, having, for the first time, the addition of the 

words, " moreover the inhabitants," seems to support that 
supposition 5 for, as by the clearest construction of the 
words of the former charter, the terms inhabitants and 
commonalty appear to have been convertible, so the ad- 
dition to the w r ord commonalty (which before included 
the inhabitants) of the emphatic expression, " moreover 
the inhabitants" seems strongly to indicate that some 
doubt has existed as to the meaning, or application, or 
extent of the word commonalty. 

But whatever doubt that might have been, the words 
are here expressly extended so as to include all the inhabi- 



1603—2 JAMES I. 63 

tants without any possibility of doubt : although such ex- 
planation does not appear to make any essential difference 
in the constitution of the borough, but to be simply ex- 
planatory : leaving the corporators the same body as 
they were before ; and again describing all the body of 
the inhabitants by the corporate name originally used, of 
the mayor, jurats and commonalty. 

The ordinary corporate powers are again given to that 
same body, and the bounds of the town and parish are 
declared to be the same as before : Thirteen of the inha- Mayor and 
bitants are to be jurats, and one of the jurats to be mayor, * lrteea 
though not in the form, yet to the same effect, as the 
charter of Elizabeth. 

The clause which gives the power of making the bye- Bye-laws. 
laws (a matter, as before observed, not directly affecting 
the present inquiry,) differs from the corresponding 
clause in the charter of Elizabeth ; because there the 
interpolation already observed upon makes the passage 
tautologous and ambiguous : and probably this was an- 
other of the things intended to be corrected by this charter; 
for here the doubt is removed ; the power is not given 
to the mayor, jurats and commonalty, (that is all the in- 
habitants generally,) but such of the commonalty (that 
is, of the inhabitants) who are freeholders for life, 
and freemen of the town : making those two things 
necessary qualifications for voting in the enactment of 
bye-laws: but still, by obvious construction, confining 
this power to such freeholders and freemen as were in- 
habitants. 

The qualification of being freemen does not appear to 
make any essential difference in this clause : because, as 
before observed, the former charters, when they incor- 
porated the inhabitants, under the name of commonalty, 
meant, by clear legal construction, only the free inhabitants, 



64 



1603—2 JAMES I. 



First mayor 
and jurats. 

'Annual 
election of 
mayor. 



Election of 
mayor on 
vacancy. 



Deputy 
mayor. 



that is, the inhabitants who had been duly enrolled as 
free, and sworn as such. 

To speak of freeholders being free appears at first sight 
to be tautok>gous, because every freeholder was free by 
tenure ; but the words here are, " free of the town," 
which means being recognized in the town as free, and 
enrolled there as such : so that the effect of this clause is 
to give the power of making bye- laws to the mayor, 
jurats, and such of the enrolled free inhabitants as had 
freeholds for life, which it is conceived was also the pro* 
per construction of the former charters. 

This clause is rather more full than those in the former 
charters, inasmuch as that it require?, amongst other 
things, by a quorum proviso, that the mayor shall be at the 
meeting. 

The first thirteen jurats and the first mayor being 
named, as in the charter of Elizabeth, the next clause 
provides for the annual election of the mayor, directing 
that two of the jurats or of the commonalty and freemen, 
having freeholds, shall be nominated by the jurats; and of 
the two so nominated, the rest of the jurats and com- 
monalty being freemen and freeholders, should elect one : 
in nothing, as it appears, according to the construction 
before adopted, altering the charter of Elizabeth, but 
only more effectually explaining it. 

The clause for electing a mayor upon a vacancy differs 
a little from that in the charter of Elizabeth, which 
directs the election to be in the same manner as the annual 
election, namely, by the previous nomination of two, out 
of whom one is to be elected : but this charter gives a 
direct power to the jurats and commonalty, being freemen 
and freeholders, to elect one of themselves to be mayor. 

A power of appointing a deputy in case of sickness, or 
necessary absence, is given to the mayor. 



1603—2 JAMES I. 6.5 

The election of jurats in cases of vacancy is given, as in Election of 
Elizabeth's charter, to the jurats ; but the persons eligible, j,"™^™ 
instead of being* described as in that charter merely as 
inhabiting in the town, are expressly required also to be 
free, and to have freeholds: the being free was no doubt 
requisite by law under the charter of Elizabeth, because 
nobody but a free inhabitant could by law be eligible to 
such an office : but the qualification of freehold is cer- 
tainly altogether an addition. 

The qualification of being a freeman and freeholder Justices, 
is also required of any inhabitant who is one of the 
justices. 

Towards the close of the charter there is a general Confirma- 
clause of confirmation of all former grants, and as no in- 
tention is expressed in this charter of James of altering 
the charter of Elizabeth, and there is this general clause 
of confirmation, it seems clear that the proper rule, in 
construing them both, is to make them mutually ex- 
plain each other, and, if possible, to reconcile them, and 
let them stand together. 

The confirmation is expressly extended to the liberty 
of electing burgesses to Parliament : the charter of 
Elizabeth purported to give that right to the mayor, 
jurats and commonalty, without any restriction ; that 
charter therefore extends to all the free inhabitants ; and 
as they exercised the right before the charter of James, 
that King could not, by his charter, abridge, alter, or 
limit their right. See the Chippenham case, Glan, page 
54, and 4th Instit. page 48: and in fact the King did not 
attempt to alter it, but leaves the privilege to be exer- 
cised as it was before. 

The general conclusion therefore must be, that this 
charter also continues the incorporation of the inhabitants 

F 



66 1603—2 JAMES I. 

at large, under the name of commonalty, although, for 
some particular purposes, and for some elections, it re- 
quires the additional qualification of a freehold. 

1603— j n th e petition to the crown for a new charter, in 

2 Jac. I. r 

21 January. 1743, (16 Geo. II.) it is s'aid that a bye-law was made 

under this charter, whereby it was agreed by the mayor 

and jurats, at a burghmote court then held, that they 

would not proceed to the election of a jurat, without the 

assent and liking of twenty freeholders, freemen of the 

town, until a common council, intended to be elected, 

should subsist 5 and then not without the assent of the 

major part of them. 

The following is a copy of the charter of the second 

year of King James I. 



The Seventeenth Part of the Patents of the Second Year of 
the Reign of King James. 

Of a grant The King, to all to whom, &c, greeting. Whereas the 
mayor, town in our parish of Maidstone, in our county of Kent, 
™?, an u is an ancient and populous town, and whereas the inha- 

commonalty l L * 

of the town bitaiits of the same town and parish, by virtue or colour 

of Maid- 
stone, to of certain charters and letters patent, of divers of our an- 

theix sue*- cestors or progenitors, Kings or Queens of England, or of 
cessors. prescriptions or customs, by the name of the mayor, jurats 
and commonalty of the town and parish of Maidstone, in 
the county of Kent, or by whatsoever other name or 
names, have had and enjoyed, or at least have claimed, 
or pretended to have and enjoy, divers liberties, jurisdic- 
tions, franchises, pre-eminences, and immunities : And 
whereas also certain doubts, questions and ambiguities 
have been lately moved and stirred, as well concerning 
the validity and efficacy, in law, of the incorporation afore- 



1603—2 JAMES I. 67 

said, as concerning the true name of the same : And also 
concerning the government of the same town and parish, 
we willing that hereafter for ever, all strife, discord, ques- 
tion, ambiguity, and doubt concerning the premises, be 
henceforth altogether removed: And also willing that 
hereafter for ever, in the same town and parish there 
may be continually had one certain and undoubted mode 
of and for the election of the mayor, jurats, and other the 
officers and ministers in the same town and parish to be 
elected, and of and for the keeping of our peace, and the 
good rule and government of the people there, and that 
the town and parish hereafter for ever may be and re- 
main a town and parish of peace and quietness, to the 
dread and terror of the evil, and reward of the good, and 
that our peace, and other acts of justice there, without 
further delay, aiay be kept, of our special grace, and of 
our certain knowledge and mere motion, have willed, 
granted, ordained, constituted, and declared, and by these 
presents, for us, our heirs and successors, do will, grant, 
ordain, constitute, and declare, that the said town and 
parish of Maidstone, in our county of Kent, be and re- 
main hereafter for ever a free town and parish of itself: 
And that the mayor, jurats and commonalty of the town 
and parish of Maidstone aforesaid, and their successors, p ree town 
and also the inhabitants of the same town and parish, by 
whatsoever name of incorporation, or by whatsoever 
names of incorporation they have heretofore been incor- 
porated, and whether they have been heretofore incorpo- incorpora- 
rated or not, hereafter for ever, be and shall be one t,on * 
body corporate and politick, in deed, fact, and name, by 
the name of the mayor, jurats and commonalty of the King's 
town and parish of Maidstone, in the county of Kent, and 
them by the name of the mayor, jurats and commonalty 
of the King's town and parish of Maidstone, in the 

f 2 



68 1603—2 JAMES I. 

county of Kent 3 one body corporate and politick, in deed, 
fact, and name, really and fully, we do, for us, our heirs 
and successors, erect, make, ordain, constitute, create, 
confirm, and declare, by these presents : and that by 
the same name they may have perpetual succession : And 
that they, by the name of the mayor, jurats and com- 
monalty of the King's town and parish of Maidstone, in 
the county of Kent, be and shall be, at all future times 
for ever, persons able and in the law capable, and a body 
corporate and politick, and in the law capable to have, 
Capable. acquire, receive, possess, enjoy, and retain lands, tene- 
ments, liberties, privileges, jurisdictions, franchises, and 
hereditaments of whatsoever kind, name, nature, quality, 
or sort they shall be, to them and their successors, in fee 
and perpetuity, or for term of life, or years, or otherwise 
in any manner howsoever ; and also goods and chat- 
tels, and other things whatsoever, of what kind, name, 
nature, quality, or sort soever they shall be: And also, 
to give, grant, demise, alien, assign and dispose of lands, 
tenements and hereditaments, and to do and execute all 
and singular other deeds and things, by the name afore- 
said 5 and that, by' the name of the mayor, jurats and 
commonalty of the King's town and parish of Maidstone, 
in the county of Kent, they may and shall be able to plead 
and be impleaded, answer and be answered, defend and be 
defended in any courts and places whatsoever, and be- 
fore any judges, and justices, and other persons, and 
officers whomsoever, of us, our heirs and successors, in 
all and singular actions, pleas, suits, plaints, causes, 
matters, and demands whatsoever, of whatsoever kind, 
name, nature, quality, or sort they may or shall be, in 
the same manner and form as any other our liege subjects 
of our kingdom of England, persons able, and in the law 
capable, or any other body corporate and politick within 



1603—2 JAMES I. 69 

our kingdom of England, may or shall be able to have, 
acquire, receive, possess, enjoy, retain, give, grant, de- 
mise, alien, assign and dispose of, plead and be impleaded, 
answer and be answered, defend and be defended, do, 
permit or execute : And that the mayor, jurats and 
commonalty of the King's town and parish aforesaid, and 
their successors, may have for ever a common seal, to serve 
for doing the causes and businesses whatsoever of them 
and their successors. And that it may and shall be lawful Seal. 
to the same mayor, jurats and commonalty, and their 
successors, the same seal at their pleasure, from time to 
time, to break, change, and make anew, as to them it 
shall seem better to.be and to be done. And further, 
we will, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and suc- 
cessors, grant to the aforesaid mayor, jurats and com- Bounds. 
monalty of the King's town and parish of Maid- 
stone, in the county of Kent, -and their successors, 
that the aforesaid town and parish of Maidstone, and 
the liberties and precincts of the same, hereafter for ever, 
do extend themselves and reach, and may and shall be 
able to extend themselves and reach, as to all and singular 
the things to take effect in these our present letters pa- 
tent contained and specified, to such and the like metes, 
limits and bounds as heretofore they have been accus- 
tomed to extend and reach. And further, we will, and 
by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, grant 
and ordain, that hereafter for ever, there be and shall be, 
within the town and parish aforesaid, thirteen oftheinha- Thirteen in- 
bitants of the same town and parish to be elected inform | 1 u a ra I t t s ants, 
in these presents hereunto mentioned, who shall be and 
shall be called jurats of the town and parish aforesaid. 
And that likewise there be and shall be one of the same 
jurats, (in form hereunder in these presents to be elected) „ 

" r ' One jurat, 

who shall be and shall be called the mayor of the King's mayor. 



70 1603—2 JAMES I. 

town and parish of Maidstone : and which jurats, not 
being in the office of mayor of the town and parish afore- 
said, shall be from time to time assisting and aiding the 
mayor of the said town and parish for the time being in 
all causes and matters touching or concerning the said 
Bye-laws, town and parish. And further, we will, and by these 
presents, for us, our heirs and successors, grant to the 
aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty of the King's 
town and parish aforesaid, and their successors, that the 
mayor, jurats and commonalty of the town and parish 
aforesaid, for the time being, having lands or tenements of 
freehold in their own right for term of their life, within 
the town and parish aforesaid, and being freemen of the same 
town and parish, assembled, (upon public summons for this 
purpose thereof to be made,) may have and shall have 
full power and authority to frame, constitute, ordain and 
make, from time to time, any reasonable laws, statutes, 
constitutions, decrees and ordinances in writing whatso- 
ever, which to them, or the greater part of them, (of 
whom the mayor of the town and parish aforesaid for tlie 
time being we will to be one,) shall seem to be good, whole- 
some, useful, honest, and necessary, according to their 
sound discretions, for the good rule and government of 
the town and parish aforesaid, and of all and singular the 
officers, ministers, artificers, inhabitants and residents 
whomsoever, within the town and parish aforesaid, and 
the liberties of the same, for the time being. And for de- 
claring in what manner and order the same mayor, jurats 
and commonalty of the town and parish aforesaid, 
and all and singular the officers, ministers, bur- 
gesses, artificers, inhabitants, and residents of the 
town and parish aforesaid, shall conduct, behave and use 
themselves in their offices, functions, ministries, arts, 
and businesses within the town and parish aforesaid, and 



1603—2 JAMES I. 71 

the liberties and precincts of the same, for the time being, 
for the further public good, common utility, and good 
rule of the town and parish aforesaid, and the victualling 
of the same town and parish ; and in other things and 
causes whatsoever, in anywise howsoever touching or 
concerning the town and parish aforesaid : And that the 
same mayor, jurats aiid commonalty of the town and 
parish aforesaid for the time being, or the greater part 
of them (of whom the aforesaid mayor of the town and 
parish aforesaid for the time being we will to be one,) as 
often as they shall make, frame, ordain and establish such 
laws, institutions, ordinances and constitutions, in form 
aforesaid, may and shall be able to make, ordain, limit 
and provide such and such sort of pains, punishments and 
penalties, by imprisonment of the body, or by fines and 
amerciaments, or by either of them, against and upon all 
offenders against such laws, ordinances and constitutions, 
or either or any of them, as and which to the same mayor, 
jurats and commonalty of the town and parish aforesaid 
for the time being, or the greater part of them, (of whom 
the aforesaid mayor of the town and parish aforesaid for 
the time being we will to be one,) shall seem to be 
more necessary, fitting and requisite for the observance 
of the same laws, ordinances and constitutions, and the 
same fines and amerciaments to levy and have to the 
use of the aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty of the 
town and parish aforesaid, and their successors, without 
the impediment of us, our heirs or successors, or either 
or any of the officers or ministers of us, our heirs or suc- 
cessors, and without any account to us, our heirs or suc- 
cessors, to be rendered for the same ; all and singular 
which laws, ordinances and constitutions so (as aforesaid) 
to be made, we will, for us, our heirs and successors, to be 
observed, under the pains in the same to be contained : so 



72 1603—2 JAMES L 

nevertheless, that such laws, ordinances, constitutions, 
imprisonments, fines, and amerciaments be reasonable, 
and not repugnant nor contrary to the laws, statutes, 
customs or rights of our kingdom of England : And for 
the better execution of our will and grant in this behalf, 
we have assigned, nominated, created, constituted and 
made, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and suc- 
cessors, do assign, nominate, create, constitute and make, 
Thirteen our beloved James Francklyn, Gabriel Green, Edward 
first jurats. Maplisden, John Tremlyn, esquires; John Romney, 
Stephen Heeley, John Greene, William Plomer, Richard 
High wood, Walter Fysher, Thomas Greenevile, Richard 
Maplisden and Thomas Sywnhogg, now holding or exer- 
cising the places or offices of jurats of the town and parish 
aforesaid, to be the present thirteen jurats of the town 
and parish aforesaid, to be continued in the same offices 
during their several natural lives, unless in the mean time^ 
for misgovernment or misbehaving themselves in that 
behalf, or for any other reasonable cause, from the same 
offices they, or either of them, shall be amoved : Also, we 
have assigned, nominated, created and constituted, and 
by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, do 
assign, nominate, create, constitute and make, the afore- 
First mayor, said Edward Maplisden, now holding or exercising the 
office of mayoralty of the town and parish aforesaid, to be 
the present mayor of the town and parish aforesaid; will- 
ing that the same Edward Maplisden shall be and conti- 
nue in the office of mayoralty of the town and parish 
aforesaid, from the date of these presents, unto the second 
day of November, commonly called the Commemoration 
of All Souls, next following, if the same Edward shall so 
Mayor; long live : And further, we will, and by these presents, 
furats° n y f° r 1JS ? our ne i rs and successors, grant to the aforesaid 
mayor, jurats and commonalty of the King's town and 



1603—2 JAMES I. n 

parish aforesaid, and their successors, that the jurats of 
the said town and parish, or the greater part of the jurats 
aforesaid, for the time being, from time to time every year 
henceforth and hereafter for ever, on the aforesaid second 
day of November, commonly called the Commemoration 
of All Souls, may assemble in some convenient place within 
the said town of Maidstone, and there may and shall be 
able to nominate and appoint two men, then being jurats of Two jurats. 
the said town and parish, or other persons being of the com- 
monalty and freemen of the aforesaid town and parish, and 
having a freehold within the town or parish aforesaid, as 
is aforesaid, to the intent and purpose that the rest of the 
jurats and commonalty of the said town or parish, and then 
likewise being freemen, and seized in their demesne, as of 
freehold of or in lands or tenements, as aforesaid, then there 
present, or the greater part of them, elect and may be 
able to elect one of the same two, so named and appointed, 
to be named and appointed to be mayor of the town and 
parish aforesaid for one whole year then next following : 
And that after the aforesaid two men shall be so, as 
aforesaid, nominated and appointed, it may and shall 
be lawful to the rest of the jurats and commonalty of the 
said town and parish so as aforesaid, being freemen and 
seized, as aforesaid, of lands and tenements, or the greater 
part of them, to elect and appoint one of the same two 
men so named and appointed to be mayor, and for mayor 
of the town and parish aforesaid ; and that he of the said 
.two men so, as aforesaid, elected and appointed, before he 
be admitted to the execution of his office aforesaid, shall 
take a corporal oath before the then last mayor,. his pre- 
decessor, or, in his absence, before any two jurats of the 
town and parish aforesaid for the time being, well and 
faithfully to execute his office of mayor of the town and 
parish aforesaid, in all things touching the same office, 



74 1603—2 JAMES I. 

and that after such oath aforesaid so taken, he may and 
shall be able to execute the office of mayor of the town 
and parish aforesaid for one whole year then next fol- 
lowing" the election aforesaid, if he shall so long live ; 
unless in the mean time, for some reasonable cause, from 
the same office he shall be amoved. And moreover, 'we 
will, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and succes- 
sors, grant to the aforesaid mayor, jurats and com- 
monalty of the King's town and parish aforesaid, and 
their successors, that if it shall happen that the mayor of 
the town and parish aforesaid for the time being, at any 
time within one year after he shall be so, as aforesaid, 
elected, sworn, and appointed to the office of mayor of 
the town and parish aforesaid, shall die, or from the same 
in case of office shall be amoved, that then and so often it may and 

mayor's 

death or shall be lawful to the jurats and such others of the common- 
amotion. & ^ Q £ t ^ e said town and parish, being freemen of the 
town and parish aforesaid, and having lands or tenements 
of freehold so as aforesaid, within the town and parish 
aforesaid, or the greater part of them, to elect, appoint, 
and nominate one other from themselves, to be 
mayor of the town and parish aforesaid, according to the 
ordinances and provisions in these presents above de- 
clared ; and that he who shall be so elected, appointed 
and nominated to the office of mayor of the town and 
parish aforesaid, shall have and exercise the office of 
mayor of the town and parish aforesaid, during the resi- 
due of the same year, having first taken a corporal oath 
in form aforesaid, and so as often as the case shall thus 
Mayor skk happen. And further, we will, and by these presents, 
oneof jurats f° r us > our neu ' s anc * successors, grant to- the aforesaid 
deputy. mayor, jurats and commonalty of the town and parish 
aforesaid, and their successors, that if it shall happen 
that the mayor of the town and parish aforesaid for the 



1603—2 JAMES I. M 

time being, shall so labour under sickness, that be cannot 
attend the necessary businesses of the town and parish 
aforesaid, or from the town aforesaid, for any reasonable 
cause, shall depart, that then and so often it may and shall 
be lawful to the mayor of the town and parish aforesaid 
for the time being, to make, constitutes and substitute, 
from time to time, one of the jurats of the town and parish 
aforesaid, to be the deputy of the same mayor for the 
time being so labouring under sickness, or for any 
reasonable cause absent, to continue in the same office of 
deputy mayor of the town and parish aforesaid, in the 
absence or sickness of the mayor of the town and parish 
aforesaid for the time being, during the pleasure of the 
same mayor of the town and parish aforesaid for the 
time being : And which deputy mayor of the town and 
parish aforesaid, so as aforesaid, to be deputed and con- 
stituted to be deputy mayor of the town and parish 
aforesaid for the time being, may and shall be able to do 
and execute all and singular those things which to the 
office of mayor of the town and parish aforesaid, within 
the same town and parish pertain, and ought to pertain 
to be done and executed during the pleasure of the 
mayor of the town and parish aforesaid for the time be- 
ing, in the absence or sickness of the same mayor for the 
time being. And moreover, we will, and by these pre- 
sents, for us, our heirs and successors, grant to the afore- 
said mayor, jurats and commonalty of the King's town 
and parish aforesaid, and their successors, that hereafter 
for ever there be and shall be, in the town and parish 
aforesaid, one officer or two officers, who shall be and shall 
be called sergeant or sergeants at mace, to serve in the Sergeant sc 
court of the town and parish aforesaid, and for proclaim- 
ing, arresting, and executing the processes, mandates, 
and other businesses to the office of sergeant at mace in 



1f> 1603—2 JAMES t. 

■the town and parish aforesaid, and the limits, bounds and 
precincts of the same, from time to time pertaining, to be 
performed and executed ; and which sergeant or s sergeants 
at mace, so appointed, nominated, and elected by the 
aforesaid mayor of the town and parish aforesaid for the 
time being, shall be attending from time to time upon 
the mayor of the town and parish aforesaid for the time 
being; and that the aforesaid sergeant or sergeants at 
mace, so as aforesaid to be elected and nominated, shall 
be in due manner sworn well and faithfully to exercise 
their office aforesaid before the mayor of the town and 
parish aforesaid for the time being; and that, after 
such oath so taken, they may and shall be able to execute 
and exercise the same office during the pleasure of the 
mayor of the town and parish aforesaid for the time being. 
And further, we will and ordain, and by these presents, 
for us, our heirs and successors, grant to the aforesaid 
mayor, jurats and commonalty of the town and parish 
aforesaid, and their successors, that the aforesaid sergeant 
[or sergeants] at mace, to be deputed in the town and 
parish aforesaid, shall bear and carry, everywhere within 
the said town and parish, and the precincts of the same, 
before the mayor of the town and parish aforesaid, one 

Mace*. or two gilt or silver mace or maces, and engraven with 
the sign of the arms of us, our heirs and successors. 
Also, we will, and by these presents, for us, our heirs 
and successors, grant to the aforesaid mayor, jurats and 
commonalty, and their successors for ever, that so often 

if jurats die as it shall happen that any jurat of the town and parish 
aforesaid for the time being shall die, or from his office 
of jurat of the town and parish aforesaid for any rea- 
sonable cause be amoved, that then and so often it may 
and shall be lawful to the mayor and jurats of the said 
town and parish for the time being, or the greater part 



or amove, 
election of 



1603—2 JAMES I. 77 

of them, from time to time for ever, at such time as to 
them shall seem good and expedient, to assemble in a 
convenient place by them to be assigned at their plea- 
sure, within the said town, and there to elect and nomi- 
nate one or more other person or persons being of the Oneofcom- 
commonalty of the same town or parish, and then inha- habitants"'* 
biting within the same town or parish, being free men freemen - 
of the town and parish aforesaid, and there having free- 
holds as aforesaid, and then not being jurats of the same 
town and parish, to be jurats of the town and parish 
aforesaid ; and that every person so elected and nominated 
to be a jurat of the said town and parish, from the time 
of such election shall be a jurat of the same town and 
parish, if it shall so seem good to the mayor and other 
jurats and commonalty aforesaid, during his or their life 
or lives, and that if a crime or other sufficient and noto- 
rious fault shall be found in any jurat there for the time be- 
ing, that then the same mayor and other the jurats and com- p oue r to 
monalty of the town and parish aforesaid, being freemen, 
and having lands or tenements of freehold as aforesaid, or the 
greater part of them then happening to be present, may 
amove and expel him from the office of jurat of the town 
and parish aforesaid, and another in his stead elect, make, 
and appoint, in form aforesaid, for ever. And further, of 
our more abundant special grace, and of our certain 
knowledge and mere motion, for us, our heirs and suc- 
cessors, we have granted, by these presents, that the 
aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty of the King's 
town and parish aforesaid, and their successors, may have 
full power and authority to hold before the mayor of the 
town and parish aforesaid for the time being, in a conve- 
nient place, within the town aforesaid, by the mayor of 
the town and parish aforesaid for the time being to be 
assigned, a certain court, from fourteen days to four 



amove 
jurats. 



78 1603— 2 JAxAlES 1. 

Court of re- teen days, on Tuesday, and in the same court to bold 
fourteen° m pl eas > as well of assize of novel disseisin, and other pleas, 
days to actions, plaints, and suits whatsoever, in anywise howso- 
days. ever concerning messuages, lands and tenements being 

within the town or parish of Maidstone aforesaid, as any 
actions, suits, plaints, and demands whatsoever, as well 
real and personal as mixed, hereafter happening, arising, 
or growing within the said town and parish, or either of 
them, although they may exceed the sum of forty shil- 
lings or not, as heretofore they have used and been accus- 
tomed, or lawfully might or could use within the town 
and parish aforesaid; and also the same in all things, and 
by all things, according to the law and custom of this our 
kingdom of England, to hear, deduce, and determine, and 
full execution upon the same to make, perform, and exe- 
cute ; and to make, render and exercise such processes, 
judgments, and executions thereupon, as is used in our 
city of Canterbury, and to have, and receive, to their own 
proper uses, such sorts of, and the like fines and amercia- 
ments in the same as is used in our said city of Canter- 
bury, and as heretofore in the same town and parish hath 
been used and accustomed. And further, of our more 
ample special grace, and of our certain knowledge and 
mere motion, we will, and by these presents, for us, our 
heirs and successors, grant to the aforesaid mayor, jurats 
and commonalty of the King's town and parish of Maid- 
stone aforesaid, and their successors, that the mayor of the 
town and parish aforesaid, so long as he shall happen to be 
Justices; i* 1 tne office of mayor of the town and parish aforesaid, the 
mayor ' steward or recorder of the town and parish aforesaid for 

steward, one A 

of jurats, or the time being, and one of the jurats of the same town 
and parish for the time being, or of other the inhabitants 
of the same town and parish, beiirg freemen of the said 
town and parish, and having there a freehold as aforesaid, 



1603—2 JAMES I. 09 

by the aforesaid mayor and jurats of the town and parish 
aforesaid for the time being, or the greater part of them, 
(of whom the aforesaid mayor for the time being we 
will to be one) every year, at convenient days and times 
to be appointed and named, shall, and every of them shall, 
be the justices of us, our heirs and successors, to keep the 
peace of us, our heirs and successors, within the town 
and parish aforesaid, the liberties and precincts of the 
same, and that the aforesaid mayor, steward, or recorder, 
and other the jurat or persons so as aforesaid to be ap- 
pointed and nominated, or any two of them, (of whom the 
mayor of the town and parish aforesaid for the time be- 
ing we will to be one,) may have and shall have full 
power and authority, within the town and parish afore- 
said, to do and execute all and singular the things which to 
the office or offices of justice of the peace pertain, as well 
for the keeping of the peace of us, our heirs and succes- 
sors, as for good rule there, from time to time to be done 
and executed, as fully, freely, and entirely, in and by all 
things, and in as ample manner and form, as either or 
any of the justices of us, our heirs or successors, in the 
county of Kent, as justices of the peace, may or ought to 
do and execute ; so, nevertheless, that they in nowise 
proceed to the determination of any treason or felony, or 
of any other offence touching loss of life or member, 
without the special command of us, our heirs or suc- 
cessors, in that behalf. " And further, of our more am- 
ple special grace, and of our certain knowledge and 
mere motion, we have given and granted, and by these 
presents, for us, our heirs and successors, do give and 
grant, to the aforesaid mayor, jurats and common- 
alty of the King's town and parish of Maidstone 
aforesaid, and their successors, that they, and their 
successors hereafter for ever, may have and shall have, 



80 1603—2 JAMES I. 

within the town and parish aforesaid, or the liberties of 
the same, or either of them, one prison or gaol, for the 
keeping and custody and detaining in prison of all and 
singular persons attached and to be attached, or to the 
prison or gaol within the liberties of the town and parish 
aforesaid, in any manner howsoever to be adjudged, within 
the liberties of the town and parish aforesaid, or the pre- 
cincts of the same, for any cause whatsoever which in the 
town and parish aforesaid, or either of them, might or 
ought to be inquired of, prosecuted, punished, or deter- 
mined, until in lawful manner they shall be therefrom 
delivered. And that the mayor of the town and parish 
aforesaid for the time being be and shall be the keeper of 
the same prison or gaol for ever. And whereas also a 
certain church in the town of Maidstone aforesaid, called 
Church. the church of All Saints of Maidstone, was formerly a col- 
legiate church, and by many years now elapsed was used 
and applied to celebrate there divine service, and other 
things which to divine worship pertain, and the same 
chuivh, with the cemetery of the same, was formerly par- 
cel of the possessions of the late dissolved house or college 
of Maidstone aforesaid, as we are informed ; we, moved 
by piety, and for the augmentation of divine worship, 
willing that hereafter for ever the same church, and the 
cemetery to the same pertaining, shall be, remain, and 
be applied to divine services, in the same church from 
time to time to be celebrated, and to the burying the 
dead in the same cemetery, will, and in right of our pre- 
rogative grant, that the same church, at all times here- 
after for ever, be, shall be, and shall be called the parish 
church of Maidstone, in the county of Kent ; and the same 
church, by the name of the parish church of Maidstone, in 
the county of Kent, for us, our heirs and successors, by 
these presents, will, at all future times hereafter for ever 



1603—2 JAMES I. 81 

to be named, known and called. And to the intent that 
the same church hereafter for ever may be and remain a 
parish church, for perpetually celebrating divine service, 
and other things to divine worship belonging, in the same 
church, and for administering the sacraments and sacra- 
mentals in the same, and to which church aforesaid the 
mayor, jurats and commonalty of the King's town and 
parish aforesaid, and all other the inhabitants resident within 
the same town and parish, from time to time may go, 
meet, and assemble, we do, of our special grace, and of 
our certain knowledge and mere motion, give, and by 
these presents grant and confirm, to the aforesaid the now 
mayor, jurats and commonalty of the King's town and 
parish of Maidstone, in the county of Kent aforesaid, and 
their successors, the same church of Maidstone aforesaid, 
and the cemetery of the same church, with the appurte- 
nances, to have and to hold the aforesaid church and 
cemetery, with the appurtenances, to the aforesaid now 
mayor, jurats and commonalty of the King's town and 
parish of Maidstone aforesaid, and their successors for 
ever, for the performing and celebrating there divine 
services, and other things which to divine worship pertain, 
as is now used, or heretofore was, or were, or are in use ; 
to hold of us, our heirs and successors, as of our manor of 
East Greenwich, in the aforesaid county of Kent, by fealty 
only, in free and common socage, and not in chief, nor by 
knight's service. And further, of our more abundant Licence to 
special grace, and of our certain knowledge and mere 
motion ; we have given and granted, and by these pre- 
sents, for us, our heirs and successors, do give and grant, 
to the aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty of the 
King's town and parish of Maidstone aforesaid, and their 
successors, free and special licence, and lawful power, 
faculty, and authority to have, acquire, receive, and pos- 

a 



hold in 
mortmain. 






82 



1603—2 JAMES I. 



Licence to 
alienate. 



sess, to thera and their successors for ever, messuages, 
lands, tenements, meadows, feedings, pastures, woods, 
underwoods, rectories, tithes, rents, reversions, and other 
hereditaments whatsoever, within our kingdom of Eng- 
land or elsewhere within our dominions, as well of us, 
our heirs and successors, as of any other person or per- 
sons which are not holden of us, our heirs or successors, 
immediately in chief or by knight's service \ so only that 
the same messuages, lands, tenements, meadows, feed- 
ings, pastures, woods, underwoods, rectories, tithes, rents, 
reversions, services, and other hereditaments, in the whole 
do not exceed the clear yearly value of twenty pounds be- 
yond all charges and reprises ; the statute of not putting 
lands and tenements to mortmain, or any other statute, 
act, ordinance, or provision heretofore had, made, or- 
dained, or provided, or any other thing, cause, or matter 
whatsoever to the contrary thereof in any wise notwith- 
standing. And also, we give and grant, for us, our heirs 
' and successors, by these presents, to the subject and sub- 
jects whomsoever of us, our heirs and successors, free and 
special licence, lawful power, faculty and authority, that 
they, or any of them, may and shall be able to give, grant, 
sell, bequeath, or alien any messuages, lands, tenements, 
meadows, feedings, pastures, woods, underwoods, recto- 
ries, tithes, rents, reversions, services, and other heredita- 
ments whatsoever, which are not held of us, our heirs 
and successors, in chief or by knight's service, to the 
aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty, and their suc- 
cessors, so that all the aforesaid messuages, lands, tene- 
ments, meadows, feedings, pastures, woods, underwoods, 
rectories, tithes, rents, reversions, services, and other 
hereditaments, so to the same mayor, jurats and com- 
monalty, and their successors, by virtue of these presents, 
to be given, granted, bequeathed, or alienated, do not ex- 



1603—2 JAMES I. 83 

ceed, in the whole, the clear yearly value of twenty pounds 
beyond all charges and reprises ; the statute of not putting 
lands and tenements to mortmain, or any other thing, 
cause, or matter whatsoever heretofore had, made, passed, 
ordained, or provided to the contrary thereof in anywise 
notwithstanding. Moreover, know ye, that we, of our Corporation 
special grace, and of our certain knowledge and mere thehnds 
motion, have granted, and by these presents, for us, our mentioned 
heirs and successors, do grant, that the aforesaid the now to them in 
mayor, jurats and commonalty of the King's town and ofEdw.vi. 
parish of Maidstone aforesaid, and their successors, may 
and shall be able at all times hereafter to have, enjoy and 
retain, to their own proper use, all and singular the houses, 
messuages, chapels, lands, tenements, rents, and heredita- 
ments, with their appurtenances, which by the letters 
patent of the Lord Edward the Sixth, late King of Eng- 
land, of the date of the fourth day of July, in the third 
year of his reign, are mentioned to be given or granted 
to the then mayor, jurats and commonalty of the town or 
parish aforesaid, by whatsoever name or names the same 
messuages, chapels, lands, tenements, rents, and heredi- 
taments, are given or granted. And also, for the greater 
security and assurance of the now mayor, jurats and 
commonalty of the King's town and parish of Maidstone 
aforesaid, in the same, we have, of our like special grace, 
and of our certain knowledge and mere motion, given 
and granted, and for us, our heirs and successors, do give, 
grant, and confirm, to the aforesaid the now mayor, jurats 
and commonalty of the King's town and parish of Maid- 
stone, in the county of Kent aforesaid, and their succes- 
sors, the aforesaid houses, messuages, chapels, lands, 
tenements, rents, and hereditaments, with the appurte- 
nances, in the aforesaid letters patent of the said Lord 
Edward the Sixth, late King of England, specified or 

G 2 



84 



1603—2 JAMES I. 



Confirms 

former 

grants. 



granted, to have and to hold all and singular the houses, 
messuages, chapels, lands, tenements, rents, and heredita- 
ments aforesaid, with the appurtenances, so as aforesaid 
in the aforesaid letters patent of the aforesaid Lord, King 
Edward the Sixth, specified to be granted, to the afore- 
said now mayor, jurats and commonalty, and their suc- 
cessors, to their proper use, to hold of us, our heirs and 
successors, by such, the same, such sorts of, and the like 
rents and services, by which and as they were heretofore 
holdenofus, or our progenitors or ancestors. And fur- 
ther, of our more ample special grace, and of our certain 
knowledge and mere motion, we do, for us, our heirs 
and successors, grant and confirm to the aforesaid 
mayor, jurats a?id commonalty of the King's town and 
parish of Maidstone aforesaid, and their successors, all 
and all manner of lawful liberties, franchises, immunities, 
exemptions, acquittances, jurisdictions and privileges : 
And also all and singular the same and such other mes- 
suages, lands, tenements, and hereditaments, customs, 
views of frankpledge, courts, fairs, feasts, markets, tolls, 
tributes, customs, fines, amerciaments, issues, rights, 
liberty of electing burgesses to the Parliament of us, our heirs 
and successors, waifs, and estrays, which the mayor, 
jurats and commonalty of the town and parish of Maid- 
stone, or the inhabitants of the same town and parish 
of Maidstone, or either or any of them, by whatsoever 
names, or by whatsoever name, or by whatsoever incor- 
poration, or by pretext of whatsoever incorporation, they 
have heretofore had, held, used, or enjoyed, or ought 
to have had, held, used, or enjoyed, to them and 
their successors for ever, of an estate of inheritance, by 
reason or pretext of any charters or letters patent of 
any of our progenitors or ancestors, in anywise how- 
soever, heretofore mentioned to be made, confirmed, or 



1603-2 JAMES I. 85 

granted, or by pretext of any prescription, use, or custom, 
or in any other lawful manner, right, or title, heretofore 
had, used, or accustomed, although the same, or either or 
any of them, have not heretofore been used, or have been 
abused, or misused, or discontinued, and although the 
same, or either or any of them, have been forfeited or 
lost, to have, hold, and enjoy, to the same mayor, jurats 
and commonalty, and their successors for ever ; to hold 
of us, our heirs and successors, by such, the same, such 
sorts of and the like rents, services, sums of money, and 
demands, by which, and as the same have heretofore been 
held of us : Wherefore, we will, and firmly enjoining 
command by these presents, for us, our heirs and suc- 
cessors, that the aforesaid mayor, jurats and com- 
monalty, and their successors, have, hold, use, and 
enjoy, and may and shall be able to have, hold, and enjoy 
for ever, all the liberties, authorities, jurisdictions, fran- 
chises, and acquittances aforesaid, according to the tenor 
and effect of these our letters patent, without the hin- 
drance or impediment of us, our heirs or successors, the 
justices, sheriffs, or other the officers or ministers whomso- 
ever of us, our heirs and successors : Willing not that 
the same mayor, jurats and commonalty, or their 
successors, or either or any of them, by reason of the pre- 
mises, or either of them, by us, or by our heirs, justices, 
sheriffs, or other the officers or ministers of us, our heirs 
or successors whomsoever, be thereof hindered, mo- 
lested, vexed, or in anywise aggrieved or disturbed: 
Willing, and by these presents firmly commanding and 
charging, as well the treasurer, chancellor, and barons of 
our exchequer at Westminster, and other the justices 
and officers of us, our heirs and successors, as our attorney 
and solicitor- general for the time being, and every of 
them, and all other our officers and ministers whomsoever, 



86 1605— 4 JAMES I. 

that neither they, nor either or any of them, prosecute and 
continue, or make or cause to be prosecuted or conti- 
nued, any writ or summons of quo warranto, or any 
other our writ, writs, or processes whatsoever, against the 
aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty, or either or 
any of them, for any causes, things, matters, offences, 
claim, or usurpation, or either of them, by them, or any 
of them, due, claimed, attempted, used, had, ox used be- 
fore the day of the making of these presents. And fur- 
ther, we will, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and 
successors, of our special grace, and of our certain know- 
ledge and mere motion, grant to the aforesaid mayor, 
jurats and commonalty, and their successors, that these 
our letters patent, and all and singular the things in 
the same contained, shall be from time to time good, 
valid, sufficient, and effectual in the law, according to the 
time intent of the same 5 notwithstanding the not-finding 
an office or inquisition of the premises, or any part 
thereof, whereby our title ought to have been found be- 
fore the making of these our letters patent 3 and, not- 
withstanding the not naming the premises, or any part 
thereof, in their proper nature, kind, sort, quantity, or 
quality. Also, we will, &c. without fine in the Hanaper, 
&c. Although express mention, &c. In testimony 
whereof, &c. witness the King, at Westminster, the 
thirty-first day of December. 

By writ of privy seal, &c. 



1605— In the corporation books of this year there is an entry, 

4 James I. « That freemen must have freeholds in the parish" 

This bye-law, or constitution, or whatever else it may 
be called, is conceived to be void in law : it is clearly not 



1605—4 JAMES I. 

authorized by either of the charters j and it appears to be 
contrary to the common law. 

Persons free by birth or servitude would be entitled to 
be so treated, and be bound to take all the correspond- 
ing burdens on themselves, as well as those free by tenure; 
and if they were so, the corporation could not by a bye- 
law limit the freemen to the freeholders, any more than 
they could limit the right of voting for common council- 
men to those freemen who had executed parochial offices, 
which was declared illegal by the Court of King's Bench, 
with respect to this same borough, in the case of the 
King against Spencer, 4 Bur. 1827 ; nor could they by 
any bye-law narrow the number of persons who were 
eligible as freemen. 

This entry, therefore, whether it is a minute of a bye- 
law, or an extract from it, appears to be of no avail, and 
only a memorial of an attempt made by the corporation 
to confine the participation of their privileges to a more 
limited number than the charter authorized. 

By an entry in the corporation books, the sons of free- 
men and apprentices are recognized, in distinction to those 
who purchase their freedom. The sons of freemen, and 
apprentices, are in most boroughs distinguished from 
those who are made free by purchase ; and that properly 
and legally so. Those free by birth and servitude must 
be known to the mayor and jurats to be free, and 
are entitled to be enrolled as such : having, in the lan- 
guage of the modern law on this subject, inchoate titles 
to their freedom. But strangers, who were the persons 
purchasing their freedom, were not known to be free, 
and the town was not obliged to admit them as such, 
nor to receive them as inhabitants, unless they were will- 
ing so to do, under the law already quoted from Gran- 
ville. 



87 



88 1605-4 JAMES 1; 

This gives a reasonable and consistent view of these 
rights, and is in conformity with law and history, 
affording a ready clue to unravel the intricacies of these 
sort of questions, and giving, as reason and common sense 
would dictate, a claim to the known free inhabitants of the 
place to be enrolled as such, but leaving the strangers to 
be adopted or rejected, as the community should think 
fit, or as they could agree with each other. 
Bye laws. From the pleadings in Mussary's case, in the 10 Geo. 
II., and from the petition to the crown for a new charter 
in 1743, it appears that a bye-law was made on the 5th 
of August in this year (1605), providing that twenty-four 
or more, not exceeding forty, of the better sort of the 
commonalty, being freeholders and freemen of the said 
town and parish, to be named by the mayor, and six of 
the jurats, and six of the commonalty, named for that 
purpose, or the greatest number of them, should thence- 
Common f° rtn be named and called the common council, to be as- 
councii. sistant in council to the mayor and jurats when they 
should thereunto be called. The which mayor, jurats and 
common councilmen, and their successors thenceforth to 
be chosen, or most part of them assembled at burghmote y 
and none other, should have liberty to make ordinances 
and constitutions for the good government of the said 
town and parish, and none other to intermeddle, &c. ; 
with power to supply vacancies by the most part then 
assembled in burghmote ; and, on refusal to accept the 
office, to forfeit to the use of the corporation 20s. Which 
bye-law was accepted, &c. 

This bye-law does not appear in any respect to affect 
the constitution of the borough, nor the mode of making 
freemen ; nor could it in any manner affect the parlia- 
mentary right of election. Sec. 4th, Instit. 48. Dover 
Case, Glanv. Reports, p. 64., and the Winchelsea Case 
in the same book. 



1610-8 JAMES I. 89 

At all events, however, it is very doubtful whether this 
bye-law was legal, as materially altering the power of 
making bye-laws given by the several successive charters, 
and constituting a new select body in the corporation ; 
the election of which was, after they were once appointed, 
not to be in the body at large, but in the new select body 
themselves : and it will be seen hereafter, in the case of 
the King against Wildish, 13th Geo. II., that a bye-law, 
of this date, with respect to the election of jurats by this 
self-elected common council, was declared void. 

The next document worthy notice is the return of 1610 — 
members to Parliament. The writ upon which it is ames ' 
made is properly directed, as before, to the mayor, jurats 
and commonalty. The return is made with the additional 
description (before explained) of " burgesses;" still exhi- 
biting an exercise of the right by the same class of persons 
as elected at first, namely, the free inhabitants, house- 
holders duly enrolled and sworn, and described, accord- 
ing to the charters, by their corporate name of common- 
alty, and their common law appellation of burgesses ; 
that is, the liberi et legales homines, the free and lawful 
men of the place. 

As in construing the charter of 2 James I., it has been 1611— 
assumed, that the freemen who are intended to vote for 
the several offices specified in it are the free inhabitants, 
and as hereafter it will be necessary to consider the rights 
of the non-resident freemen, it may be as well here to 
refer to a case which occurred at this time, and which 
explains, with reference to the city of London, and also 
perhaps as to other cities and boroughs, what the privi- 
leges of freemen were. 

In the case of Sir Thomas Walter against Hanger, Waiter v. 
which occurred this year, and is reported in Moor, Han s er - 
p. 823, and which was a case as to the prisage of wine 



90 1611— 9 JAMES I. 

in the city of London : one of the points resolved was, 
that he that would take advantage of the privilege " must 
be free of the city, and also an inhabitant within the city, 
and also pater familias within the city ; for one may he 
free of the city and no citizen" (that is, in a borough,* 
no burgess,) " as if he remains and dwells elsewhere : he 
may he a citizen by habitation, and still not free, (that is, 
he may be a villein,) he may be a citizen, and free, and 
not a householder ; and in all these cases he shall not 
have the privilege." 

It will be readily seen how this case confirms the view 
which has been already taken of this subject, and how it 
will explain the documents which will hereafter be ob- 
served upon. 

In the case of the King against Wildish, (13th Geo. II. 
1739,) mentioned hereafter, it is stated, that a bye-law 
was made in this reign, by the whole of the corporation, 
and before the granting of the charter of James I., that 
the election of the jurats should be made by the mayor, 
jurats and a select party of the commonalty, called the 
common council ; and which bye-law was declared by 
the court in that case to be illegal. 

In the petition to the crown for a new charter in 1743, 
this bye- law is stated to have been made by the mayor, 
jurats, and common council, by virtue of the authority 
given to them by the charter of the 2d James I. ; but that 
must be a mistake, as the common council is not men- 
tioned in that charter, but is spoken of in a bye-law of 
that year, as a body not then existing, and was in fact 
created by the bye-law of the 5th James I. The date also 
of this bye-law is stated in the petition as the 10th of 



* See before, the case cited of the warden and commonalty of the 
Sadlers' Company, 30 Eliz. 4 Co. 54. See also in Stanton's case. 
Moor, 135. T. 25 Eliz. 



1619—17 JAMES I. 91 

August, which is subsequent to the date of the charter of 
the same year ; but in Wildish's case, this bye-law, as 
stated above, is described as being made before that 
charter. 

The petition describes the persons eligible for jurats 
under this bye-law merely as inhabitants. 

The next material document immediately relating to 1619 — 
this borough, is the charter of James I. in the 17th year 17 ames 
of his reign. 

Of this charter there is no enrolment to be found, the 
original, however, under the great seal, is supposed to 
be in the possession of the corporation. 

It purports to continue the same privileges, and recog- 
nizes the incorporation of the mayor, jurats and common- 
alty, as incorporated by Queen Elizabeth, and also by 
the charter of 2d James I. and confirms the markets and 
fairs granted by these charters. 

It then purports to recite the power of electing jurats, 
as given by the charters of Elizabeth and James, and 
states that the mayor, jurats and commonalty, had power 
to elect ; whereas, both those charters give this power 
to the mayor and jurats alone, to the exclusion of the 
body at large. 

In this respect, therefore, the charter is inaccurate, 
unless it must be read as describing the grant, which cer- 
tainly was to the mayor, jurats and commonalty, although 
the power was to be exercised by the mayor and jurats 
alone ; but it seems that, in fact, this misrecital arose 
from the bye-law, which had been made by the corpora- 
tion, altering the right of election of jurats, as seen in the 
case of the King v. Wildish. 

The qualification for the eligible, of being free and pos- 
sessing freeholds, is also recited ; and, for the purpose of 
putting an end to all doubt? and questions on the subject, 



92 1619—17 JAMES 1 

it grants that the mayor, jurats and commonalty may elect 
any person or inhabitant, a jurat, although not a freeman, 
nor having a freehold. The extension of eligibility to 
persons not being free, if taken in its full latitude, 
seems certainly a singular provision. 

Treating the freeman as either a common law, or a 
corporate character, this provision is, in both views, ex- 
traordinary : for, be it either the one or the other, it seems 
strange that a person not free, (or in other words, a vil- 
lein,) or not free of a body corporate, should be permitted 
to hold so important an office in the corporation as that 
of jurat. 

But the next clause provides only, that if any freeman 
elected to the office of jurat, shall refuse the office, he 
may be fined; which seems to import that the person 
elected must be an inhabitant, or else he would not be 
within reach of the corporation : and it would seem that 
he must be a member of the corporation, or he would not 
be within their jurisdiction : and it must be observed, 
that the power of fining for refusal to take the office, can, 
by this latter clause, be only enforced against freemen. 

It is conceived therefore, in order to reconcile these 
two clauses, and make the whole intelligible, the first 
clause must be construed to mean that they might elect 
any person inhabitant, to be a jurat, although he was not 
a freeman at the time of the election : but by the second 
clause, it appears clearly to be intended that he should 
be enrolled and sworn as free, before he was compelled 
to take the office, or to be fined for refusing it : and the 
whole seems to import, that any inhabitant could be com- 
pelled to take upon himself the offices of the corporation, 
when called upon to do so; and that the inhabitants, and 
not the freemen, as far as they are here distinguished 
from each other, were the corporators. 



1619—17 JAMES I. 93 

After giving* the mayor and jurats power to appoint a Recorder. 
recorder, this charter proceeds to give the mayor, jurats 
and commonalty power to nominate, elect and admit any 
person or persons, being an inhabitant, or not an inhabitant, 
to be a freeman of the town and parish for life. Freeman. 

It must be observed that this clause is introduced into 
this charter for the first time. 

Although persons had been for a long time before ad- 
mitted as freemen, no power to that effect had been 
given by any charter; consequently it must be assumed, 
that those admissions had been made under the general 
law, to which reference has already been made in Glan- 
ville. 

This clause, therefore, can only be treated as declara- 
tory of the general law. For the King could not by his 
prerogative alter the law, or affect either the rights of the 
public or individuals : consequently the King could not 
enable the corporation to make free of their body, so as 
to enjoy all the privileges of it, any person, inhabitant 
or non-inhabitant ; for such a power, taken according to n ro . Abr. 
the generality of the terms, would enable them to make t J I J• Patents, 
all the subjects of the realm free, which is absurd ; it 
would have had the effect of having enabled them to en- 
franchise all the villeins, which would clearly have been 
unreasonable ; and would have been an interference by 
the crown with the rights of the lord, which, even in the 
most arbitrary times, would not have been tolerated. 
It would have enabled them to give a general exemption 
from- juries, and to have absorbed every jurisdiction in 
their own, in which alone the members of the corpo- 
ration were to plead and be impleaded. 

The clause, therefore, must require, in its construction, 
some limitation ; probably the one most reasonable, and 
most consistent with the common law, would be, that it 



94 



1619—17 JAMES I. 



Court ,-?- 
limits of 
borough. 



Juries. 



means to give to the corporation the power of receiving^ 
enrolling, and swearing, as free, any persons coming to 
reside within their town, whether they had inhabited 
there before or not. Or, it may mean merely an ad- 
mission, in conformity with the statutes alluded to before, 
as to the guilds and fraternities for the purposes of trade ; 
and the subject seems to be so treated in the case of the 
mayor and commonalty of Colchester against Godwin, 
Carter, 114. 

At all events, with whatever limitation the words are 
to be taken, it seems clear from the words themselves, 
(particularly as such a construction is confirmed by the 
authority of Sir Thomas Walter against Hanger,) that the 
freemen, merely as such, were not members of the corpo- 
ration : for that body, by all the former charters, and by 
this, is to consist of inhabitants alone, and of course could 
not extend to those who were not inhabitants, who, 
nevertheless, are by this clause made eligible as freemen. 

This construction is strengthened by the circumstance, 
that in the same charter, an inhabitant is made eligible to 
the office of jurat, (which is a corporate office,) although 
he is not a freeman ; upon which circumstance observa- 
tions have already been made. 

It should also be observed that the recorder, whom the 
corporation have the power of electing, is also not made 
one of the corporate body by the words of the charter ; 
and if so, he will be taken to be a stranger to the corpo- 
ration. See Rex v. Birch, 13 East. 367- 

The extent of the jurisdiction of the fortnight court is 
then defined, and the limits of the borough set out with 
much particularity. 

After which, the clause in the charter of Elizabeth, 
excepting the mayor, jurats and commonalty, and the in- 
habitants, from all juries but in the town, is recited; and 



1619—17 JAMES I. 95 

for the more perfect explanation of it, the grant is re- 
peated as made to the mayor, jurats and commonalty, 
and every inhabitant, from time to time ; meaning, it is 
conceived, every person who shall, from time to time, 
come to inhabit in the town. The same observations 
apply to this clause as have been made before in the cor- 
responding clause in the charter of Elizabeth : and it 
should be added, that this exemption being granted to the 
commonalty, and the inhabitants being expressly named, 
seems strongly to show, that the freemen mentioned in 
the former clause would not be included in this, unless 
they were also inhabitants. 

For the better preservation of the inhabitants, the Justices. 
mayor, recorder, and two of the more ancient in degree 
and order of the jurats, are made justices of the peace. 
The mayor is appointed coroner. Waifs, estrays, goods Coioner. 
of felons, &c. are granted to the corporation; and the 
return of writs, with a non-intromittant clause, as to the 
king's sheriff, coroner, or escheator. 

A clause relating to the bridges recites that the mayor, Bridges. 
jurats and commonalty, inhabitants of the town, had en- 
joyed certain profits for the use of the inhabitants : a pas- 
sage again expressly describing the commonalty as inha- 
bitants of the town ; and raising a strong inference that 
this term included all the inhabitants. 

The customs to be paid are then enumerated ; after Toils. 
which, a power is given to the mayor, jurats and com- 
monalty to assess upon themselves, and every inhabitant, Assess- 
reasonable taxes and assessments for the support of the town, men 
to be levied by distress : a power, the legality of which, 
when given only by the charter of the crown, might be 
much questioned under any circumstances ; and which 
clearly could not be legal, unless all the inhabitants were 
members of the corporation ; for in that case, it would be 



96 1619—17 JAMES I. 

giving to the corporation the power of taxing others than 
their body; which the King certainly could not give. 

It seems, therefore, that this clause also goes a great 
way to confirm the construction before stated of the cor- 
poration, including all the inhabitants. 

It is true, that the frame of the sentence, adding, after the 
words mayor, jurats and commonalty, " and every inhabi- 
Co. Litt- tanl," may at first sight be thought to import that some of 
Ktr.N.B. the inhabitants, at least, were not of the commonalty; 
and which in strictness was the fact, for women, aliens . 
and minors could not be enrolled or sworn as free; but 
still they would be subject to the necessary taxes of the 
town, as inhabitants ; because their cases are excepted by 
the law; they are exempt and excluded from some bur- 
dens and privileges ; but they can enjoy others: the fe- 
males share the protection of the town, and the minors 
will, when of age, share in the corporate franchises : so 
that when it is said, " all the inhabitants' 7 are included in 
the term commonalty, women and minors, and also luna- 
tics, are excepted by implication of law; though, as inha- 
bitants, they share some of the privileges. 
Confirma- The general confirmation of former privileges with 
which this charter closes, is also to the mayor, jurats and 
commonalty; and there seems no reason for doubting that 
this charter, like all the former, was a grant to the inha- 
bitants of the town, by the corporate name of mayor, 
jurats and commonalty. It does not mention the election 
of members of Parliament. 

For the further information of the reader, we have 
thought it right to give a copy of the charter of 17th 
James I. It is as follows : 



tion 



1619—17 JAMES I. 79 

Amongst the Records kept in the Treasury of the Court of 
the Receipt of the Exchequer, viz. in the Bundle of Privy 
Seals indorsed " Seventeenth James I" is contained as 
follows. 

To our well beloved and very faithful cousin and coun- 
sellor, greeting, we command you, that you cause to be 
made, under our privy seal, our letters to be directed to 
our chancellor of England, commanding him that he 
cause to be made our letters patent, under our great seal 
of England, in form following: — The King, to all to Recital of 
whom, &c. greeting, whereas our most dear sister Eliza- 2 Elizabeth. 
beth, late Queen of England, by her letters patent, under 
her great seal of England made, bearing date at West- 
minster the fourth day of December, in the second year 
of her reign, with the advice of her then very dear coun- 
sellors, for herself, her heirs and successors, of her special 
grace, certain knowledge and mere motion, (amongst 
other things,) did grant to the mayor, jurats and commonalty 
of the town and parish of Maidstone, by the name of the 
mayor, jurats and commonalty of the town and parish of 
Maidstone, in the county of Kent, and their successors, 
one market, within the aforesaid town of Maidstone, in a As to grant 
certain place there, commonly called the Market-place, an^Sr^ 
every week, on Thursday, thereafter for ever, to be held 
and kept, with all tallages, customs, and other profits to 
market belonging; and also four fairs, or feasts, to be 
held and kept in the aforesaid town of Maidstone, in such 
place where the mayor of the same town and parish for 
the time being, by proclamation for the same made, 
should assign the same to be held within the same town 
and parish ; that is to say, one thereof to begin every year 
thereafter at noon of the last day of April, and to continue 
until noon of the second day of the month of May then 

H 



98 1619—17 JAMES I. 

next following ; one other thereof to begin every year 
thereafter at noon of the day of the vigil of the feast of 
Saint Edmund, the king and martyr, and to continue 
until noon of the morrow of the day of the same feast 
then next following, and one other thereof to begin every 
year thereafter, for ever, at noon of the day of the vigil of 
the feast of Saint Faith the Virgin, and to continue until 
noon of the morrow of the day of the same feast then 
next following; and the other thereof to begin every 
year thereafter at noon of the day of the vigil of the feast 
of the Purification of the blessed Virgin Mary, and to 
continue until noon of the morrow of the day of the same 
feast next following ; and all and singular tolls, stallage 
and other things whatsoever, coming or growing from 
the said fairs or feasts, and every of them, or by rea- 
son of the said fairs or feasts, or either of them; and courts 
of Pie Powder to be held in the fairs and markets afore- 
said, and every of them ; and all fines, amerciaments, for- 
feitures, profits and emoluments, as well within the afore- 
said courts of Pie Powder as by reason and occasion of 
the same coming, growing, and arising, as by the letters 
patent aforesaid is more fully manifest and appears : And 
whereas also, we afterwards, by our letters patent, under 
our great seal of England sealed, bearing date at West- 
minster the thirty-first day of December, in the second 
year of our reign of England, &c. did newly make, incor- 
porate, and name the same then mayor, jurats and com- 
monalty of the town and parish aforesaid, by the name of 
the mayor, jurats and commonalty of the King's town 
and parish of Maidstone, in the county of Kent ; and the 
aforesaid markets, fairs and feasts, and other the liberties 
and privileges by the said letters patent of our said sister 
Elizabeth, late Queen of England, to the same mayor, 
jurats and commonalty of the town and parish aforesaid 



2 James I. 



1619—17 JAMES I, 99 

before granted, we, by our said letters patent to the then 
mayor, jurats and commonalty of the town and parish of 
Maidstone aforesaid, and their successors, by the name of 
the mayor, jurats and commonalty of the King's town 
and parish of Maidstone, in our county of Kent, for their 
greater security, did grant and confirm, as also by our 
same letters patent is more fully manifest and appears ; 
know ye, that we, willing to show and do to the same 
the now mayor, jurats and commonalty of the King's 
town and parish aforesaid, and their successors, further 
grace and favour, and also at the humble petition of the 
aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty of the same 
town and parish, of our special grace, and of our certain 
knowledge and mere motion, have ratified, approved, and 
confirmed, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and 
successors, do ratify, approve, and confirm, to the same 
mayor, jurats and commonalty of the King's town and 
parish of Maidstone, in the county of Kent, and their suc- 
cessors, the aforesaid markets, feasts, courts of Pie Powder, 
tallages, customs, tolls, stallage and profits in the markets, confirm* 
fairs or feasts, and courts aforesaid, coming, growing, market> * 
arising, or to the same in anywise howsoever belonging 
or appertaining ; and further, for the better security 
of the same, the now mayor, jurats and commonalty, 
and their successors of and in the aforesaid premises, 
we have given and granted, and by these presents, for 
us, our heirs and successors, do give and grant, to the 
aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty, and their suc- 
cessors, the aforesaid markets, fairs or feasts, courts of 
Pie Powder, piccages, tallages, customs, tributes, tolls, 
stallage, and all and singular other profits whatsoever 
to the aforesaid market, fairs or feasts, and courts of Pie 
Powder, in anywise howsoever belonging, appertaining, 
arising, renewing, or happening; and that it may and 

h 2 

:LufC. 



100 1619—17 JAMES I. 

shall be lawful to the aforesaid mayor, jurats and com- 
monalty, and their successors, if it shall so seem expe- 
dient to them, at their pleasure from time to time, to 
extend the market aforesaid beyond the aforesaid place, 
called the Market-place, or to hold and keep the 
same market in some other convenient place within the 
town aforesaid. Willing also, and by these presents, for 
us, our heirs and successors, granting to the aforesaid 
mayor, jurats and commonalty of the King's town and 
parish of Maidstone aforesaid, and their successors, that 
they, and their successors hereafter for ever, may have, 
receive, hold and enjoy, and may and shall be able to 
have, hold, receive and enjoy, to their proper use and 
behoof, in and from the aforesaid markets and fairs or 
feasts, reasonable piccage, sums of money for the show- 
ing of goods and merchandize there to be sold or ex- 
posed to sale, (cahed show-money ,) stallage, tallage, tolls, 
tributes, customs, commodities, profits, rights and jurisdic- 
tions, of what nature, kind, or sort soever, to any 
markets, fairs or feasts, in anywise howsoever belonging 
or appertaining, and in as ample manner and form as in 
the same or any other markets, fairs or feasts, within any 
city, borough or town in our county of Kent, in any man- 
ner are or have been lawfully received, had, or taken, 
although the same profits are not particularly, or by ex- 
press names, named or declared in these presents, or in 
the said letters patent of our aforesaid sister Elizabeth, 
^cha"^ late ^ ueen of England : and whereas, also, the aforesaid 
ofEiizabeth, mayor, jurats and commonalty, and their predecessors, 

the mayor, * . ' 

jurats and by virtue oj the said letters patent of our said late sister, 
ona t ! ^ may elect, as jurats of the same town and parish, either 



may elect, 

»y 

and afterwards, in our aforesaid letters patent it is men 



asjurat,any or any of the inhabitants of the same town and parish, 

inhabitant, 



1619—17 JAMES I. 101 

tioned that the aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty,* and that by 
and their successors, may he able to elect, as jurat there, 2 James, 
any inhabitant of the same town and parish aforesaid, being |^ a ™^ r ' 
a freeman of the same town ana] parish, and there having commonalty 

may elect, as 

a freehold in his own proper right. We, therefore, willing jurat, any 
that all and singular questions, doubts and controversies ^iLaf*^ 
of, for and concerning the election of jurats there to be , man > a " d 

" ** J J having free- 

made hereafter, be henceforth taken away and appeased, hold. 

for us, our heirs and successors, by these presents, do 

give, grant, constitute and ordain, that it may and shall 

be lawful to the aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty 

of the King's town and parish of Maidstone aforesaid, 

and their successors, from time to time hereafter, to name To put an 

and elect any person or persons inhabitant or inhabitants doubrj 

within the town and parish aforesaid, as jurat or jurats of the King 

the same town and parish, and that such person or per- ^ n ^ that 

sons so named and elected, or hereafter to be named and jurats and 

i i 7 7, i i . r i i commonalty 

elected, shall be a jurat and jurats ot the same town and mayeiect,as 
parish, as either or any of the jurats of the same town and SSJJJj jj 
parish now is or are, although such person or persons so hab ^ ant 
to be named or elected as a jurat or jurats as aforesaid town; 
be not a freeman or freemen of the same town and pa- 
rish, and although such person or persons hath or have and such 
not a freehold in their proper right within the town and elected S ° 
parish aforesaid, any thing in the said letters patent be- ? ha!lbea 
fore recited to the contrary thereof notwithstanding; and though not 

• nr c c i r a freeman, 

ij any jreeman or freemen of the same town, so as afore- nor have a 
said named or elected to be named or elected to the freehold - 
office and place of a jurat or jurats, shall refuse to tale if any f reSm 
upon himself and execute the same place and office, then sSwefut 
we will, and for us, our heirs and successors, grant to 
the aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty of the King's 
town and parish aforesaid, and their successors, that it 

* This charter was inaccurate in this recital. 



102 1619—17 JAMES L 

may and shall be lawful to the aforesaid mayor, jurats 
and commonalty, and their successors, or the greater 
part of them for the time being, upon such person and 
persons so refusing the office or place of jurat aforesaid, 
to impose and assess a reasonable fine or sum of money, 

mayor, &c. and the same fine and sum of money so assessed and im- 

may impose p 0se( ^ fry Stress of the goods and chattels of the same 
person or persons so refusing, according to the laws and 
statutes of this our kingdom of England, to levy [and the 
same mayor, jurats and commonalty, and their succes- 
sors] may and shall be able, from time to time, to take, 
receive, and retain the same, to the proper use and be- 
hoof of the aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty and 
their successors. Also, we will, and by these presents, 
for us, our heirs and successors, grant and ordain, 
that the aforesaid mayor and jurats of the same 
town and parish for the time being, and their suc- 
cessors, or the greater part of them, from time to 
time hereafter, may and shall be able to nominate 
and elect one man, learned in the laws of England, as 
recorder of the King's town and parish aforesaid and 

Recorder. t j iat ^ e S q elected or to be elected, be, shall be, and 
shall be called recorder of the said town and parish, and 
may have and hold the same office or place of recorder 
during the pleasure of the aforesaid mayor and jurats for 
the time being, or the greater part of the same : And that 

Mjyor, j.j ie a f oresa id m ayor. jurats and commonalty of the Kind's town 

jurats and ** J jj j o 

commonalty and parish aforesaid, and their successors, or the greater 

may elect 

any person part of them, may and shall he able to nominate, elect and 
Lhabfcuit a ^ m ^ an V V erson or persons, being an inhabitant or not an in- 
or not > habitant of the same King's town and parish of Maid- 
stone aforesaid, a freeman or freemen of the same town and 
parish aforesaid : And that he or they so as aforesaid, and as 
heretofore in the town aforesaid hathheen accustomed, or 



1619—17 JAMES I. 103 

in any other manner, named, elected ov admitted, or to be and he and 
named, elected or admitted, be a freeman and freemen ledjand™' 
of the town and parish aforesaid, and be so called and her . etofore » 

1 3 or in any- 

aCCOUnted during* their natural lives, if for any reasonable other man- 

ncr elected* 

cause he or they be not amoved by the aforesaid mayor, 
jurats and commonalty, or the greater part of the same 
for the time being : And which recorder, jurats and free- 
men, so as aforesaid, from time to time to be named, 
elected or admitted, and every of them respectively shall 
take and make their several oaths upon the holy evan- To take 
gelists before the mayor and jurats for the time being, or oaths * 
the greater part of the same, (of whom the mayor for the 
time being we will to be one,) well and faithfully to do 
and execute their several offices or places respectively, 
as the steward or recorder, jurats and freemen of the town and 
parish aforesaid have been heretofore used or accustomed : 
And whereas also, our same most clear sister, Elizabeth, 
late Queen of England, by her said letters patent, did grant 
to the aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty, and their 
successors, full power and authority to hold before the 
aforesaid mayor of the town and parish aforesaid for the 
time being, in a convenient place within the town afore- 
said, by the mayor of the town and parish aforesaid for 
the time being to be appointed, a court, from fourteen Law court, 
days to fourteen days, on Tuesday, and in the same court 
[to hear, try and determine] pleas as well of assize of 
novel disseisin, and other pleas, actions, plaints and suits 
whatsoever, in anywise howsoever concerning messuages, 
lands and tenements, being within the town or parish 
of Maidstone aforesaid, as actions, suits, plaints and de- 
mands whatsoever, as well real and personal as mixt, hap- 
pening, arising, or growing within the town and parish 
aforesaid, or either of them, whether they exceed the sum of 
forty shillings or not : And the same late Queen, by her 



104 



1619—17 JAMES I. 



Extent of 
borough as 
to jurisdic- 
tion of 
court, &c. 



same letters patent, did will, that the town and parish of 
Maidstone, aforesaid, and the liberties of the same, should 
extend by the water of Medway, from a certain bridge 
called Eastfarleigh Bridge, unto a certain place called 
Havvkewood, as in the same letters patent more fully 
appears : And whereas the aforesaid water of Medway, 
between the aforesaid bridge called Eastfarleigh Bridge, 
and the place aforesaid called Hawkewood, runs by and 
through the town and parish of Maidstone aforesaid, and 
by and through the several towns of Eastfarleigh, Bann- 
ing, Loose, Boxley, Allington, and by certain streets 
called Millhale and Newhithe, in the parish of East Mail- 
ing, in our county of Kent aforesaid ; and the same town 
and parish of Maidstone aforesaid extends promiscuously 
in, by and through the town of Loose aforesaid, and Lin- 
ton, in the county aforesaid, and beyond, and also by the 
towns of Eastfarleigh, Banning and Boxley, and by the 
town of Otham, in our county of Kent aforesaid, as we 
have certain knowledge thereof : Now we, intending to 
put into certainty and limit into what parishes, towns, 
hamlets and streets, and how and whereunto the liberties 
and jurisdiction of the mayor, jurats and commonalty of the 
King's town and parish of Maidstone aforesaid (as to the 
hearing and determining of pleas in their court aforesaid) 
extend and reach, will, and by these presents, for us, our 
heirs and successors, of our like special grace, and of our 
certain knowledge and mere motion, grant, ordain and 
declare, that the liberties of the King's town and parish 
of Maidstone aforesaid, and also the jurisdiction of the 
mayor, jurats and commonalty of the same town and 
parish, and their successors, only as to the cognizance and 
determination before the aforesaid mayor for the time 
being, and his successors, of all and all manner of actions, 
personal and mixt, and of replevies made, and to no 



1619— 27 JAMES I. 105 

other intents, constructions and purposes, hereafter extend 
and reach, in, by and through the aforesaid towns and 
parishes of Eastfarleigh, Banning, Loose, Boxley, Ailing- 
ton, Millhale, Newhithe, Linton, and Otham ; and hence- 
forth be had, reputed and adjudged, so to extend and 
reach, whether the actions aforesaid, or either of them, 
exceed the sum of forty shillings or not ; so, neverthe- 
less, that such cognizance and determination of actions 
personal, mixt, and of replevies aforesaid, within the town 
and place aforesaid arising, by these presents granted and 
confirmed to the same mayor, jurats and commonalty, be 
not to the damage or prejudice of the jurisdictions, cus- 
toms, liberties, or privileges of any other of our subjects, 
there having or lawfully claiming any thing in that be- 
half. And that, for the better execution of the same 
actions personal, mixt, and of replevies, it may and shall 
be lawful to the aforesaid mayor for the time being, in 
and by the aforesaid parishes, towns, streets and hamlets 
of Eastfarleigh, Banning, Loose, Boxley, Allington, 
Millhale, Newhithe, Linton and Otham, to make and 
execute attachments, and all other legal processes and 
executions, by their sergeant or sergeants at maee/br by 
any other person or persons by the same mayor for the 
time being to be named or appointed, as the law in that 
behalf demands. And whereas the aforesaid late lady, 
Queen Elizabeth, by her aforesaid letters patent, did 
grant to the same mayor, jurats and commonalty, and their 
successors, that they, and every of the inhabitants of the 
same town and parish, then thenceforth for ever, should 
be exempt and discharged from all and all manner juries 
and inquisitions to be returned, had, or taken before any 
justices whomsoever of the same late said lady, the 
Queen, her heirs or successors, except in the said 
town of Maidstone, although the same Queen, her 
heirs or successors, be parties in the same juries or 



106 



1619—17 JAMES I. 



Exemption 
from juries 



Justices of 
the peace. 



inquisitions. Also, we, for the better certainty of the 
exemption of the inhabitants of the town and parish afore- 
said from the juries and inquisitions aforesaid, of our like 
special grace, and of our certain knowledge and mere 
motion, for us, our heirs and successors, by these pre- 
sents, will, grant and declare, that the aforesaid mayor, 
jurats and commonalty of the King's town and parish 
aforesaid, and their successors, and every inhabitant from 
time to time of the same King's town and parish, or either 
of them, be not put or impannelled in any juries and in- 
quisitions to be taken before the justices of us, our heirs 
or successors, to hear and determine felonies, trespasses, 
and other misdeeds in the county aforesaid, or before the 
justices of us, our heirs or successors, of Nisi Priiis, or 
of the gaol delivery, in the county of Kent aforesaid, or 
before the escheator and other commissioners, or mi- 
nisters of us, our heirs or successors, without the town 
and parish of Maidstone aforesaid. And that the 
sheriff of our county of Kent aforesaid for the time 
being, shall not put or impannel, or cause to be put or 
impannelled, the aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty, 
and their successors, or any inhabitant of the same town 
of Maidstone, in such juries and inquisitions to be taken 
tcithout the toicn and parish aforesaid, as aforesaid. And 
moreover, we, for the better preservation and conserva- 
tion of the aforesaid town and parish of Maidstone, and 
the inhabitants of the same in peace and good rule, of our 
special grace, and of our certain knowledge and mere 
motion, for us, our heirs and successors, have willed, 
granted and ordained, and by these presents do will, 
grant and ordain, that the mayor and recorder of the town 
and parish of Maidstone aforesaid for the time being, 
and two of the more ancient (in degree and order) of the 
jurats of the same town and parish for the time being, 
and every of them and their successors, as long as they 



1619—17 JAMES 1. 107 

shall have and hold their offices or places respectively, 
they, and every of them, be and shall be our justices, and 
the justices of our heirs and successors, to keep thepeace 
of us, our heirs and successors, within the town and pa- 
rish aforesaid, and to do, perform and execute all and sin- 
gular the things which to the office of justice of the 
peace of us, our heirs or successors, pertain, as other 
justices of the peace of our county of Kent have been 
accustomed to do and execute. And that no justice of 
the peace of our county of Kent aforesaid, in anywise 
intromit himself within the said town and parish of Maid- 
stone, to do any thing which to the office of justice of the 
peace there belongs or pertains ; and which mayor and 
two of the more ancient jurats of the town and parish 
aforesaid for the time being, so named as aforesaid as 
justices of the peace, shall make and take, and every of 
them shall make and take, their corporal oath upon the 
holy evangelists, before the rest of the jurats then 
for the time being, faithfully to perform and execute the 
office and place of a justice of the peace there. And that the 
aforesaid mayor, recorder, and two of the more ancient 
jurats of the town and parish aforesaid, as aforesaid, for the 
time being, and their successors, or any three of them, (of ' 
whom the mayor and recorder of the town and parish 
aforesaid for the time being we will to be two,) may 
have and shall have, thenceforth for ever, full power and 
authority to inquire, hear, and determine all and singular 
trespasses and misdeeds, of whatsoever kind, nature, or 
sort, within the town and parish aforesaid arising, as jus- 
tices of peace in the county of Kent, two or more of them, 
as well in their sessions as without, by virtue of our com- 
mission or grant to them thereof made, may, or shall be 
able to do, act, or perform : so, nevertheless, that to the 
determination of any treason or felony, or of any other 



108 1619—17 JAMES I. 

offence touching the loss of life, or member, without the 
special mandate of us, our heirs or successors, they in no- 
wise in that behalf proceed. And that the aforesaid 
mayor, jurats and commonalty of the town and parish 
aforesaid, and their successors, may have, take and re- 
ceive, to their own proper uses, all and singular Jmes 9 for- 
feitures and issues of jurors for their not appearing, and 
also fines and forfeitures for trespasses and other misdeeds 
and contempts before the same mayor, recorder, and two 
jurats, justices of the peace, or three of them, as afc.ve- 
said, within the town and parish aforesaid, from time to 
time happening, renewing, or arising. And moreover, 
we, of our like special grace, and of our certain know- 
ledge and mere motion, for us, our heirs and successors, 
have willed, given and granted, and by these presents, 
do will, give and grant, to the aforesaid mayor, jurats and 
commonalty of the town and parish aforesaid, and their 
successors, that the now mayor, and every mayor of the 
town and parish aforesaid henceforth happening, during 
Coroner. the time of his mayoralty, be and shall be the coroner of 
us, our heirs and successors, in and through the town 
and parish of Maidstone aforesaid. And that he, by him- 
self, or by his sufficient deputy under the seal of the said 
mayor in that behalf to be named or deputed, shall do 
and perform, and may and shall be able to do and 
perform, all and singular the things which to the 
office of coroner belongs or appertains within the town 
and parish aforesaid, in as ample manner and form as 
any coroner of any county of our kingdom of England, or 
of any liberty within the same liberties, can, ought, or 
may be able lawfully to inquire, act, do, execute, or per- 
form : the aforesaid now mayor his corporal oath, well 
and faithfully to execute the same office, before the last 
maw, his predecessor in that behalf, having first taken; 



1619—17 JAMES I. 109 

and to whom, now being the last mayor, and his successors, 
we give and grant, by these presents, for us, our heirs and 
successors, full power and authority, from time to time, to 
take and administer such oath ; and that no other coroner 
of our county of Kent aforesaid, within the town and 
parish of Maidstone aforesaid, hereafter intromit himself 
to do any thing which to the office of coroner belongs or 
appertains. And further, we, of our special grace, and of 
our certain knowledge and mere motion, for us, our heirs 
and successors, have given, granted and confirmed, and 
by these presents do give, grant and confirm, to the afore- Grant of 
said mayor, jurats and commonalty of the town and parish estrays. 
of Maidstone aforesaid, and their successors, to their proper 
use and benefit, all and singular the goods and chattels 
waived, estrays, fines, forfeitures, and other profits and 
emoluments, by the said letters patent of our said late 
sister to the aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty, and 
their successors heretofore given and granted ; and also, 
the goods and chattels of felons and fugitives, persons out- 
lawed, or put in exigent, within the town and parish 
aforesaid, by land or by water, hereafter falling, happen- 
ing, renewing or arising. And that the mayor of the 
town and parish aforesaid for the time being, and his 
successors, may have and shall have, from time to time, 
return of all and singular the writs, mandates, and pre- Return of 
cepts of us, our heirs and successors, within the town and 
parish aforesaid, hereafter to be made and executed ; so 
that our sheriff, coroner, or escheator, in the county of 
Kent, or other the ministers of us, our heirs or successors, 
nor either of them respectively, to do or perform any 
thing in the same town and parish, in nowise intromit 
himself or themselves in the premises. Also, we will, 
and by these presents, of our special grace, and of our 
certain knowledge and mere motion, grant to the afore- 
said mayor, jurats and commonalty, and their successors, 



wnt-s. 



110 1619— 17 JAMES I. 

that they and their successors may have, receive and 
Wharfage, enjoy, and may and shall be able to have, receive and 
enjoy, for their own proper use and behoof, wharfage, an- 
chorage and groundage of all and singular ships and other 
vessels, of whatsoever kind or burthen, coming to 
the same town and parish of Maidstone, and reason- 
able wages and fees for the lading and unlading of 
merchandizes, goods and chattels in the same ships or 
vessels, in or out of the same ships or vessels there to be 
laden or unladen : And that also the aforesaid mayor, 
jurats and commonalty, and their successors, may likewise 
have, by the water aforesaid, from the aforesaid bridge 
Liberty of called Eastfarleigh Bridge unto Hawkewood, the liberty 

keeping- 
swans. - and privilege of keeping and preserving swans, cygnets, and 

a swan-mark for the same, and to change and alter the 
same swan-mark at their pleasure : And also to sign and 
mark all and singular the swans and cygnets by the 
water aforesaid, or within the metes and limits aforesaid, 
and the banks and soil of the same, building, breeding 
or resorting, and not lawfully signed or marked with the 
swan-mark aforesaid, and full power and authority, the 
swans and cygnets aforesaid swimming or straying out of 
the limits and metes aforesaid, by water and land, to pur- 
sue, retake, bring back, and have again, without the im- 
pediment of ns, our heirs or successors, or of any other 
our officers or ministers, or others whomsoever : And 
whereas also the mayor, jurats and commonalty of the town 
and parish aforesaid, and their predecessors, inhabitants of 
the same, in times past have been used to receive and have, 
and have had and received, or at least have pretended and 
claimed to receive and have, for the maintenance of the 
state of the same town, and of the public and common 
structures and edifices there, as well for the habitation and 
maintenance of the poor there, the water course to the town 
of Maidstone aforesaid, for the necessary use oftheinha- 



1619— 17 JAMES I. Ill 

bitants there, and for the support of the yearly charge of 
the same ; and also for the maintenance and support of 
divers stone bridges, one whereof is of great extent, upon 
the water of Medway aforesaid, consisting of divers stone 
arches, and one other of the same, also with like arches, 
upon another river in the parish of Maidstone aforesaid : 
And for the better maintenance of the ways and cause- 
ways in and about the town of Maidstone aforesaid, for 
passing with carriages in and from the town aforesaid, 
which have been greatly injured by carts and waggons, 
divers sums of money, and customs of and for merchandize 
and other things to the town of Maidstone aforesaid, there 
brought to be sold or carried by water from the town afore- 
said to the city of London, and other places to be trans- 
ferred cr carried [have been taken and had] : We also, 
intending the continuation of the good estate of the town 
and parish aforesaid, and of the inhabitants there in the pre- 
mises, and to put in certainty and declare the same sums of 
money so taken and had, of our special grace, certain 
knowledge and mere motion, for us, our heirs and succes- 
sors, by these presents, grant to the aforesaid mayor, jurats 
and commonalty, and their successors, in aid of the repara- 
tion and amendment of the bridges, ways and causeways, 
and common edifices aforesaid, the water course of Med- 
way, and the soil and banks of the same, that they by them- 
selves, their ministers or servants, may hereafter for ever, 
from time to time, have and receive, for the merchandize 
and things to the town of Maidstone aforesaid brought 
or to be brought, and in the markets, fairs or feasts, or 
otherwise, there to be sold, or from the town aforesaid to 
the city of London, or to any other places by land or 
water aforesaid conveyed, brought, carried or taken 
away to be conveyed, brought, carried or taken away, 
these several sums of money and customs underwritten 5 
that is to say, for every ton of wine, oil or vinegar, one 



112 1619— 17 JAMES I. 

penny ; for every cart laden with corn or grain, of what 
kind soever, timber, fire-wood, iron, coals of every kind, 
wrought stones or other the like saleable things or goods, 
one penny : And for every greater or less quantity accord- 
ing to that rate, and also for every poyse or weight of 
cheese, butter, salt and other merchandize, one penny ; 
and according to that rate for every greater or less 
weight : And for every broad cloth, one penny ; for every 
smaller cloth, called a kersey, one half-penny ; and so, 
according to that rate, for every greater or less quantity 
of the aforesaid cloths : And for every quarter of corn 
or grain, of what kind soever, one penny; and so 
according to that rate for every greater or less quantity 
of the same : And for every one hundred sea fish brought 
or carried to the town of Maidstone aforesaid to be sold, 
one penny ; and so, according to that rate, for every 
greater or less quantity : For every ox, steer, cow, horse, 
mare, foal and heifer saleable, one penny : For six sheep, 
for sale, one penny ; and so according to that rate for any 
greater or less number: For every calf or pig, for sale, 
one half-penny : For every truss of goods, of the value 
of twenty shillings or upwards, one penny ; and for 
every merchandize and saleable thing, above not 
expressed or specified, exceeding the value of five 
shillings, one halfpenny: Also, we grant, for us, our 
heirs and successors, to the aforesaid mayor, jurats 
and commonalty of the town and parish of Maidstone 
aforesaid, and their successors, that they, or the greater 
part of them, for the better support of the charges 
Assess- f ^ town and parish aforesaid, or other reasonable 
cause or respect, or for the public good and convenience 
of the same town and parish, and the inhabitants there, 
may and shall be able from time to time to make, impose 
and assess, upon themselves and every inhabitant there, 
reasonable taxes and assessments, in reasonable sums of 



ments. 



1619— 17 JAMES I. 113 

money, and the same by distresses, or other legal manner, 
to have, receive and levy, as heretofore they have been 
used or accustomed. And moreover, we will, and by 
these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, grant and 
confirm to the aforesaid mayor, jurats and commonalty of 
the King's town and parish aforesaid, and their successors, 
that they and their successors have, hold, enjoy, and use, 
and may and shall be able, henceforth for ever, to have, 
hold, enjoy, and use, all and singular such liberties, powers, 
authorities, franchises, immunities, acquittances and free 
customs, as and which they, or their predecessors, by virtue 
of any charters or letters patent, by us or either of our 
progenitors, late Kings or Queens of England, or other- 
wise in any lawful manner, right or title howsoever, have 
had, held, or enjoyed, although the same franchises, liberties, 
immunities, and free customs, by them or their prede- 
cessors hitherto have not been used, or might have been 
abused ; willing also, and by these presents, forus, our heirs 
and successors, commanding and enjoining, that the afore* 
said mayor, jurats and commonalty of the town aforesaid, 
and their successors, or either of them, for any causes, 
things, claims or usurpations by them, or either of them, 
claimed, attempted, used, or had before the making of these 
presents, by any writ of quo warranto, or other writs or pro- 
cesses by us, or any of the officers or ministers of us, our 
heirs or successors, be not prosecuted, hindered, molested, 
nor in anywise disturbed or aggrieved, any information or 
suit in our name against the aforesaid mayor, jurats and 
commonalty, in any our courts of record of, for, or con- 
cerning the premises, or either of them, now exhibited or 
depending, notwithstanding : And further, we will, and by 
these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, of our 
special grace, and of our certain knowledge and mere 
motion, grant to the aforesaid mayor, jurats and com- 

i 



11.4 1619— 17 JAMES I. 

monalty, and their successors, that these our letters patent 
and all and singular the things therein contained, be and 
shall be from time to time good, sufficient, valid and ef- 
fectual in the law, according to the true intent of these 
presents, notwithstanding the not naming, or not rightly 
or certainly naming, the aforesaid premises, or any part 
thereof, in their proper nature, kind, sort, quantity or 
quality; and notwithstanding the not reciting or not truly 
reciting the aforesaid several letters patent before men- 
tioned, or any thing in the same contained, or any act, 
statute, ordinance, provision or restriction, or any defect, 
uncertainty or imperfection in these our letters patent, 
or any thing, cause or matter to the contrary thereof, not- 
withstanding : Also we will, &c. without line in our 
Hanaper, &c. although express mention, &c. In testi- 
mony whereof, &c. witness, &c. And these our letters 
shall be to you in this behalf a sufficient warrant and dis- 
charge. Given under our signet at our palace of West- 
minster, the twelfth day of July, in the year of our reign 
of England, France and Ireland, the seventeenth, and of 
Scotland the fifty second. Windebank. 

To our well beloved and very faithful cousin and 
counsellor, Edward, Earl of Worcester, keeper 
of our privy seal. 



1621— The short charter of this date, which, in explanation of * 

19 James I. . . . . . - ._.„ 

the last charter, authorizes the justices oi Kent to intro- 
mit in Maidstone, and hold sessions for the trial of acts 
done without the town during the time of the sessions 
there, or in the face of the court, affects the present 
question and inquiry no farther than as it recites, and 
thereby confirms, the charter of 1/th James I., and is be- 
sides, like all the former charters, a grant to the mayor, 
jurats and commonalty. 



1621— 19 JAMES I. U5 

We have thought it proper to add a copy of this char- 
ter, lest it might be conceived that any thing- necessary 
to elucidate this subject has been omitted. 

The Second Part of the Patents of the 19th Year of the 
Reign of King James, 
The King, to all to whom.&c. greeting : — Whereas we, A deciara- 

. , . . , c tion of the 

by our letters patent, sealed with our great seal ot pleasure of 
England, bearing date at Gorhambury, the 28th day of £j]Jj5£ 
July, in the year of our reign of England, France and of the 

- county of 

Ireland the seventeenth, and of Scotland the fifty-second, Kent, con- 
fer the considerations in the same letters patent ex- privileges of 
pressed and contained, did srive and errant to the mavor, the town of 

. * ° ° " Maidstone. 

jurats and commonalty of the King's town and parish 
of Maidstone, in the county of Kent, and their suc- 
cessors, divers privileges, liberties, authorities and juris- 
dictions ; and amongst other things, by the same letters 
patent, for the better preservation and conservation of 
the said town and parish, and the inhabitants of the same, 
in peace and good rule, of our special grace, and of our 
certain knowledge and mere motion, have willed, 
granted and ordained,, that the mayor and recorder of 
the town and parish of Maidstone aforesaid for the time 
being, and two of the more ancient in degree and order 
of the jurats of the same town and parish for the time 
being, and each of them, and their successors, so long as 
they should respectively have and hold their offices and 
places, should and might be, and every of them should 
and might be, a justice and justices of us, our heirs and 
successors, to keep the peace of us, our heirs or successors, 
within the town and parish aforesaid, and to do, perform 
and execute all and singular the things which to the 
office of a justice of the peace of us, our heirs and suc- 
cessors, should pertain, as other the justices of the peace 

i 2 



116 1621— 19 JAMES I. 

of our county of Kent are accustomed to do and execute. 
And that no justice of the peace of our county of Kent 
aforesaid should in anywise intromit himself within the 
said town and parish of Maidstone aforesaid, to do any 
thing which to the office of a justice of the peace there 
should belong or pertain, as by the same letters patent, 
amongst other things, is more fully manifest and appears. 
And whereas certain doubts and questions have been 
lately stirred, moved and had upon the tenor and intent 
of the words in the aforesaid letters patent, as aforesaid 
specified, to wit, whether the justices of us, our heirs and 
successors, assigned and to be assigned to keep the peace 
in the county of Kent aforesaid, and also to hear and de- 
termine felonies and other misdeeds committed and to be 
committed in the same county, may intromit themselves 
within the town and parish aforesaid, without loss, preju- 
dice, or impediment to the aforesaid mayor, jurats and 
commonalty, and their successors, in the liberties, privi- 
leges and jurisdictions to them so as aforesaid mentioned 
to be granted, or without loss, impediment or prejudice 
to the said justices of the aforesaid county of Kent to be 
tjone. We therefore, willing not that the justices of the 
said county, by us, or any others, in despatching the 
businesses touching the county aforesaid, be in any man- 
ner aggrieved or hindered, nor the justices of the afore- 
said town and parish of Maidstone, in their liberties and 
privileges, contrary to the customs and rights of the same 
town and parish, be aggrieved ; but that all such doubts 
and questions in the premises may hereafter be alto- 
gether removed, of our special grace, and of our certain 
knowledge and mere motion, do signify and declare it 
to be our pleasure and intent in the premises, and also 
at the humble petition of the aforesaid mayor, jurats and 
commonalty beseeching us in this behalf, have willed, 



1621—19 JAMES I. 117 

ordained, constituted and granted, and by these pre- 
sents, for us, our heirs and successors, do will, ordain, 
constitute and grant, to the aforesaid mayor, jurats and 
commonalty, and their successors, that it may and shall 
be lawful to the justices of us, our heirs and successors* 
assigned and to be assigned to keep the peace in the 
aforesaid county of Kent, and also to hear and determine 
felonies, trespasses and other misdeeds committed and to 
be committed in the same county: Sheriffs, officers and 
ministers of us, our heirs and successors, for the time 
being, or any or either of them, into the town and pa- 
rish of Maidstone aforesaid, from time to time, to enter 
and intromit themselves to hold and keep general ses- 
sions and sessions of the peace there, for the county 
aforesaid; and hereafter for ever, according to the law 
of our kingdom of England, to have and to hold ge- 
neral sessions and sessions of the peace for the said 
county of Kent; and then and there to hear, correct, 
punish and determine felonies, trespasses, contempts 
and other misdeeds, and all other things and busi- 
nesses done in the same county without the town and 
parish aforesaid ; and also to hear, correct, punish and de- 
termine felonies, trespasses, contempts and other mis- 
deeds, and all other things and businesses during the 
time of the same sessions in the session aforesaid there* 
or in the face of the court chancing, arising, or happen- 
ing. And that it may and shall be lawful to the afore- 
said justices of the aforesaid county of Kent for the 
time being, and either or any of them, in the town 
and parish of Maidstone aforesaid, from time to time, 
to intromit themselves for the holding of, and there 
to hold, all other their meetings touching or concern- 
ing the public business of the said county happening 
without the town and parish aforesaid, or any of the sub- 



118 1621-49 JAMES- 1. 

jects of us, our heirs or successors, of the same county 
likewise happening without the said town and parish ; 
and also at their pleasure to make, perform, ordain and 
fulfil all and singular other businesses concerning the 
gaol of us, our heirs and successors, of the county afore- 
said, and of the house of correction, being within the 
town of Maidstone aforesaid, and the prisoners to the 
same gaol and house committed or to be committed, and 
the discharging and delivering of the same gaol and 
house, and either of them, in all things, and by all things, 
as fully, freely and entirely, and in as ample manner and 
form, as they or any the justices of the peace of the 
county aforesaid heretofore, within the town and parish 
aforesaid, used or were accustomed, or there might or 
ought to do and execute : our aforesaid letters patent, 
bearing date the aforesaid twenty-eighth day of July, or 
any thing in the same contained to the contrary thereof, 
notwithstanding. Also, we will, &c. without fine, in our 
Hanaper, &c. although express mention, &c. in testi- 
mony, &c. witness the King, at V 7 ^stminster, the 
twenty-sixth day of July. By writ of privy seal, &c. 



1623— The veturn, of this date, of Sir George Fane and Sir 

2\ James I. 

Francis Barnham, knights, is made by the mayor, jurats 
and commonalty as before, and is tested by the mayor, 
jurats and commonalty, burgesses, who were present at 
the election. 

The following is a copy of it : — 
" Indenture between the sheriff and Grene, the 

" now mayor of the borough of Maidstone, and the 
"jurats and the commonalty of the same, whose names 
" to this schedule are subscribed, who have elected 
" George Fane and Francis Barnham, knights, bur- 



1623— 21 JAMES 1. H9 

u gesses of the borough aforesaid, to have power, for 
" themselves and the commonalty of the borough 
* aforesaid, to do, &c. In witness, &c. the mayor, 
"jurats and commonalty, burgesses, who were 
" present at the election aforesaid, have subscribed, 
" &c." 
This return is in a very decayed state $ there are many 
signatures, but they are much obliterated. 

The return to Parliament in this year was made by the 1625— 
mayor, jurats and commonalty ; it is signed by many per- ames 
sons, but it is in a very decayed and obliterated state. 

The following entries appear in the corporation books 
ot^ this time: — 

" (Entred by master mayor's appoyninent.) 
" Memorand. That on Saturday theseaventh day of May, xxiiij Maii, 
" 1625, at the schoolehouse, Mr. Edward Maplisden 162 °* 
" and Mr. Thomas Stanley, jurats, being p M pounded 
" by mr. mayor, upon the reading of the statute in 
" j. H. V. and the p M clamacon of our late Soireigne 
" Lord King James, in the first yeare of his reigne, 
" for elecion of knights and burgesses for Parliament, 
" weare chosen and elected burgesses for this towne 
" and parish for this p^sent Parliament now holden." 
The next document, in chronological order, is a return km— 
of this date, which varies in form from some of the 
former, but is, no doubt, in substance the same ; because , 
there is no reason to believe that the electors had been 
changed : and which indeed could not have been done, 
according to the cases before cited, but by all the in- 
habitants. 

• The indenture is between the sheriff and the mayor, 
whereby it is witnessed, that the election had been made 
by fifty-eight persons,* who are named and described as 



120 1656-1 CHARLES I. 

burgesses, with other burgesses, being the greater num- 
ber ; and the mayor appears to have fixed the common 
seal, with the assent of the burgesses. 

The following is a copy of the return : 
" Indenture made between the sheriff and the mayor 
" (by name), witnesseth that Maplesden and 

" Thomas Harley (or Stanley) by fifty-eight (names) 
" burgesses of the town, parish and borough afore- 
" said, and other biogesses, being the greater number, 
" were elected, &c. The mayor puts the common 
" seal, with the assent of the burgesses." 
There is also another indenture in the same year, made 
by the mayor, jurats and commonalty, burgesses of the bo- 
rough and town, wider their seal; which appears to be in 
words the same as some of the former returns. 

For greater certainty, we add a copy of this return : — 
" Indenture between the sheriff and Thomas Harley, 
" mayor of- the town and borough, jurats and com- 
" monalty, burgesses of the borough and town whose 
" names are partly subscribed, witnesseth, that the 
" mayor, jurats and commonalty, burgesses of the 
" same, have elected Sir George Fane and Sir Fran - 
" cis Barnham, knights, &c. to do, &c. for the afore- 
" said mayor, jurats and commonalty, burgesses, §r. 
" The mayor, jurats and commonalty put their seals." 
There are several signatures affixed. 
1629— The return of this date omits any mention of the jurats 

3 Charles I. , , . _ ' \ * . -. 

or commonalty, and is made by the mayor of the bo- 
rough and thirty-nine burgesses of the town, parish and 
borough, and other burgesses, being the greater num- 
ber : and the mayor affixes the common seal, by assent of 
the burgesses ; and it is signed by the mayor and thirteen 
others. 
The following is a copy of it :— - 



1629—3 CHARLES I.- 121 

" Indenture, dated 3d Car. between the sheriff and mayor 
" (by name) of the borough, witnessed), that Sir 
" George Fane and Sir Francis Barnham, knights, 
" by thirty-nine (names) burgesses of the town, pa- 
" rish and borough aforesaid, and other burgesses, 
" being the greater number, were elected burgesses 
" to the Parliament, for the town, parish and bo- 
u rough aforesaid. The mayor puts the common 
" seal of the town, parish and borough, by assent of 
" the burgesses." 

(Signed by the mayor and thirty-nine other names.) 
This return appears to correspond in every respect 1641 — 

15 Chas. I. 

with the last, excepting that the names mentioned in the 
return are a few less, and the mayor only signs the re- 
turn. For the reasons before stated, a copy of it is given ; 
it is thus : — 

u Indenture, dated 15th Car. between the sheriff and tne 
" mayor (by name) of the King's town and parish, 
" witnessed), that Sir George Fane and Sir Francis 
"Barnham, knights, were elected by thirty-four 
" (names) burgesses of the town and parish afore- 
" said, (being the greater number,) burgesses of the 
" town and parish aforesaid. The mayor puts the 
" common seal with the assent of the burgesses." 
The mayor's name only is signed. 
2V. B. — In this return the word " burgess " has been 
evidently erased in every place where it was used, 
and the word " et " interlined between town and 

et 
parish, in this manner — " Vill. ' PocLu et Burg." 



The return of this year is, in effect, the same as many 1642— 
of the preceding. Tiie following, however, is a copy of 
it: 



m 1644—20 CHARLES I. 

" Indenture between the sheriff and the mayor, (byname.) 
"Sir Francis Barnham and Humphrey Tufton, elected 
"by 36 (names) burgesses of the town and parish afore- 
said, and others, being the greater number bur- 
"gesses of the town and- parish aforesaid. The mayor 
"puts the common seal, with the assent of the bur- 
"gesses. v 

The subsequent returns have not been obtained, from 
the great expense in procuring copies of them ; but, in all 
probability, they will be found in every respect to cor- 
respond with the former, unless any return during the 
Commonwealth, or that to the Prince of Orange's letter, 
should be made by the inhabitants. 
The admission of Ann Halsnod to her freedom 
1644- this year, is a material fact to show that the admis- 
2 ' sion to the freedom of the town did not make a 

person a member of the corporation, because there is no 
instance to be found of a female being a member of the 
corporation of a town, nor of their being burgesses ; 
which strikingly coincides with the law of the court-leet, 
by which they were exempted from suit at that court. 
Brit. ch. 12 and 29. — Horn's Mirror of Justices, chap. 4, 
sect. 27. 1 chap. sect. 3 and 17- — Bract. 3 lib. cap. 11, 
14; and the tine imposed on Lucy Sudyer and Margaret 
Rami, for exercising a trade without taking up their 
freedom, is decisive to show that these proceedings (as 
observed before) referred to trade alone. 

The following are the entries alluded to : 
"Maidstone (Ss.) Court of Burghmote, holden 15 
" January, 1644, before Mr. Caleb Bankes, mayor. 
" Ann Halsnod, free. — At this court, Ann Halsnod, her 
"fine assessed at 40s. whereof she paid 20s. in hand, 
"and promised to nay 20s. more at Michaelmas 
" come twelve month, was made free, she being the 



16S2 — 34 CHARLES II. 123 

" eldest daughter of a freeman, and having no brother 
"to be made free." 

" Luce Sudyer, Margaret Rami, fined for exercising 
" a trade without taking up their freedom." 
20th June. — At an adjourned burghmote, an order is 1682— 
made for a warrant of attorney to surrender the charter. 
Our copy of the entry of such order is silent as to the 
number of the jurats present at the court making such 
order. If there were not a majority of the 13 jurats pre- 
sent, the order would be void; and it might be very Rex v. Bell- 
questionable whether the mayor and jurats, although they rng 
had by the charter the power of makingstatutes and ordi- 
nances for the regulation of the town, were authorized to 
direct the surrender of the charters, without the express 
consent of the inhabitants at large. 

The entry is as follows : 
"Maidstone (Ss.) At an adjourned Court of Burgh- 
"mote then holden, the 20th day of June, A. D. 1682, 
"and in the 34 Car. IL Robert Sanders, mayor, and 
"jurats appearing. 

" It is ordered at this court, that there be a letter of 
" attorney made unto Edmund VViat, Esq. for us and 
" on our behalfs to surrender unto the King's most ex- 
" celient Majesty, the charter or charters of our corpo- 
" ration ; and for so doing the said letter of attorney 
" shall be his sufficient warrant; which letter of attor- 
" nev was made and done according v." 

N. B. It is presumed, that this was done in order 
that all the charters and bye-laws formerly granted 
and made, might be revived in the charter then 
about to be granted. 
It certainly appears that the mayor and jurats assumed 1632 — 
to themselves the power of surrendering the charters, as 26 October. 
the next document we have to notice is the charter of 
34 Car. II. which recites that the mayor, jurats and com- 



124 1682—34 CHARLES II. 

monalty had surrendered their former charters to the 
King, and which surrender had been accepted by his 
Majesty. 

Maidstone is not included in the number of places 
mentioned in King James's proclamation as having en- 
rolled their surrenders; and the fact is, that it was not 
enrolled ; and upon the authority of the cases of Butler 
and Palmer, 1 Salkeld 191; Piper and Dennis, 12 Mo- 
dern, 253 ; and Rex v. Osborne, 4 East, 327 ; this 
charter is void, as granted upon a surrender void for 
want of enrolment: and it is conceived that the courts of 
law would be disposed so to treat this charter from its 
containing the clause for the removal of the officers of the 
corporation at the will of the Crown, which has been 
so much discountenanced by the courts in Westminster 
Hall: and although such a clause was, in the case of Rex 
v. Amery, 2 Term Reports, incidentally held not to make 
the charter void, yet the judgment of the Court of King's 
Bench in that case was subsequently reversed: and, upon 
the whole, it seems probable that the charter is void.* 

The first material distinction to be observed, between 
this charter and the former, is, that in the recital and the 
incorporating clause, all mention is omitted of the inhabi- 
tants, as was usual in the charters of this reign, when it 
is most notorious that the policy of the Crown was to ex- 
clude the general body of the inhabitants from the incor- 
porations, and to limit them to as small a body as pos- 
sible, and those frequently non-residents, (the officers of 
state, or the dependants of the Crown,) for the purpose of 
securing the King's influence over the corporations; of 
which there are abundant instances. 



* In Newton's History of Maidstone, (1741,) it is stated that the 
former charters were not legally surrendered, and that this new one 
was rather designed to serve a party interest than the common good of 
the corporation, to which it seemed to be of no real advantage, and 
that they bad declined acting upon it ever since the Resolution. , 



1682—34 CHARLES II. 125 

In pursuance of that policy, this, which was before an 
incorporation of the inhabitants, by the name of the mayor, 
jurats and commonalty, is now an incorporation of the 
mayor, jurats and commonalty, by the name of the "mayor 
and aldermen" a mode of incorporation which, it was 
well known, might be construed to apply to the smallest 
select body; for although the word ^commonalty," when 
used, as it was in the former charters, expressly as the 
corporate name of the inhabitants, cannot, without en- 
forced construction, contrary to the clear intention of 
the charter, be construed to mean any select part of the 
inhabitants; yet, with the omission of all mention of 
inhabitants, and applying it only to an incorporation of the 
mayor and aldermen, it was obvious that it was capable of 
being applied to any select body which might be created. 

There is no stronger circumstance to show that the 
former charters were general charters of incorporation of 
the inhabitants, without any select body, than this change 
of language, adopted in this arbitrary charter ; the object 
of which cannot be mistaken. 

The usual corporate powers are given in this charter in Corporate 
much the same form as in the preceding charter. powers. 

After which, it directs that there shall be twelve inha- Twelve Al- 
bitants, continually inhabiting and dwelling within the town 
and parish, (besides the may or J who are to be alder- 
men; that term being for the first time substituted in the 
place of jurat. 

And that there shall be 24 men, inhabiting and dwelling Twenty 
within the town and parish, who shall be called the com- 
mon council, with the aldermen. The common council- Cllmen 
men of 24 being here first mentioned in this charter as a 
component part of the corporation. 

This is the first place in which the common council 
is mentioned in anv charter. That bodv was created bv 



four com- 
mon conn- 



126 



1682—34 CHARLES II. 



Bye-laws. 



First mayor, 
aldermen, 
and common 
council. 

Annual 
election of 
mayor. 



a bye-law, in 1606, 5 James I. (as has been before ob- 
served, and its probable illegality has been pointed out.) 
It should be noted that no mention whatever is made of 
the common council in the charter of the 17th James I., 
which may have been another reason why the select 
body did not act upon that charter, inasmuch as it did 
not recognize the common council ; which body was, 
in those times, the usual instrument by which the corpo-? 
rations were subjected to the control of a small self- 
elected junto. 

However, the common council could not long have 
had any legal existence by charter; as this charter was 
declared void at the Revolution. • 

The charter then proceeds to grant to the mayor and 
aldermen, that the mayor and commoji council may make 
bye-laws, and also regulations for the leasing and demis- 
ing of the lands of the corporation; and that they may 
impose fines and penalties for enforcing the bye-laws. 

The first mayor, aldermen and common council are 
then mentioned in the usual manner. 

The annual election of mayor is then directed to be 
made by the mayor and aldermen, (as by the jurats before, 
by the charter of Elizabeth and 2 James I.,) naming two 
aldermen, or any inhabitants having lands or tenements 
of free tenure for life at the least; to the intent that the 
other inhabitants of the town having freeholds might elect 
one. 

This clause, in conformity with the charters of Edward 
VI., of Elizabeth, and of 2 James I., further requires that 
the electors should be freeholders ; but, like the charter 
of 17 James I., it does not expressly make the qualifica- 
tion of being a freeman necessary; a circumstance mate- 
rial to be considered with reference to the charters before 
stated. 



1682—34 CHARLES II. 127 

\> 
This election is, in effect, required to be made in the Election of 

same manner as the annual election. vlclnc™ 

The election of aldermen, upon vacancies caused by the Election of 
death or removal of any alderman, is directed (as by the 
17th James I.) to be made by the mayor and aldermen 
from the inhabitants of the town, without requiring 
any qualification, either of freehold or being a freeman. 

The elections of common councilmen are to be made in Election of 
the same manner, and from the same persons, as the councilmen. 
aldermen. 

And both the aldermen, and common councilmen, are 
made removable for misgovernment, not dwelling within 
the town, or for any other lawful cause. 

The election of a recorder, and the making a deputy Recorder. 
mayor, in case of sickness, or the absence of the mayor, Deputy 
allowed for any reasonable cause, are provided for, as D ' re _ 
well as that of a deputy- recorder. 'corder. 

The grants of the markets, fairs, court of Pie Powder Fairs, &c. 
and view of frankpledge are renewed, with some alterations. 

The election of members of Parliament (for which no Members of 
provision was made in the charter of 2 James I., it being Parllament * 
merely enumerated amongst the privileges confirmed by 
that charter; nor is any mention at all made of it in the 
charters of the 17th and 19th of the same King,) is here 
expressly provided for, and directed to be made by the 
mayor, aldermen, common councilmen, and also the free- 
men of the town and parish having lands and tenements 
of freehold in their own proper right for term of their 
lives at least. 

The charter of Elizabeth placed the right in the mayor 
and commonalty, which, as was observed before, was the 
corporate name for the inhabitants : and it has been al- 
ready seen in what manner that right was exercised, 
namely, by the commonalty; it has also been shown to 



128 



1682— 34 CHARLES' II. 



Mayor 
clerk of the 
market. 



Common 
clerk. 

Mortmain. 
Freemen. 



have been once actually exercised at the leet ; and after- 
wards the electors were characterized by the appellation 
of the good and lawful men of the town. 

For the reasons given before, those returns show that 
the elections were by the inhabitants, or at least by a more 
general body than that portion of the inhabitants (namely, 
the freeholders) pointed out by this clause; and if so, it is 
clear, on the authority of the Chippenham case, in Glou- 
cester, and the 4th Instit. 48, that this clause could not 
have affected the Parliamentary right of election, even if 
the charter had not been void. 

The next clause appoints the mayor clerk of the 
market. 

After which clause follows the objectionable provision 
for the removal of the mayor, recorder, common clerk, 
and either of the justices, at the will of the Crown; a 
clause which goes the length of leaving the corporation 
entirely under the power of the Crown ; because, inas- 
much as the mayor and recorder are at every meeting of 
the corporation made of the quorum, if they were not 
present, the corporation could not proceed ; they could, 
therefore, by absenting themselves render any act nuga- 
tory, and their assent to, or dissent from, any act must be 
at all times insured by the Crown, otherwise they would 
be removed. Hence these clauses have, from their arbi- 
trary and unconstitutional character, been treated as void; 
and it has been even questioned whether such an illegal 
clause did not vitiate the whole charter. 

A common clerk is then appointed, and provision made 
for the election of another, and also of a deputy. 

A licence of mortmain is also added. 

After which follows the clause for making freemen ; in 
substance and effect the same as the corresponding 
clause in 17 James L, except that the power of making 



1682—34 CHARLES II. 123 

them is here given to the mayor, aldermen and common 
council ; and by the former charter it was given to the 
mayor, jurats and commonalty. 

The observations made on the former charter, with re- 
spect to this clause, would be also applicable to this. 

A court from fourteen days to fourteen days is granted; Court; 
the bounds of the borough are set out with great parti- 
cularity; and the extent of the court's jurisdiction parti- 
cularised. 

The clause for the exemption from juries gives that Exemption 

... • i / • c i i « i fr° m juries. 

privilege to every inhabitant oi the town and parish; 
which affords an inference that at this time, as well as in 
the reign of Queen Elizabeth, it was thought that the 
inhabitants were the persons entitled to the privileges 
granted by the charter. 

Six justices are appointed, with an addition of a non- Justices. 
intromittant clause, as to the justices of the county of 
Kent: notwithstanding the charter of 19 James I. had 
expressly given them a limitted jurisdiction within the 
town. 

The provisions as to their jurisdiction; the application 
of the fines ; the appointment of a coroner and his deputy ; 
the grant of felon's goods ; the return of writs ; wharf- 
age, anchorage, and the privilege of having and pre- 
serving swans ; afford no inference affecting the present 
inquiry. 

The clause granting and enumerating the customs, customs* 
states it to be for the good estate of the town and parish 
and the inhabitants there. 

And the concluding clause of the charter, which gives Assess- 
power to the mayor and aldermen to make assessments nunts * 
for the advantage of the town and parish and the inha- 
bitants, enables them to impose the assessment on every 
inhabitant ; a power winch the King did not possess him- 

K 



CSO 1682—34 CHARLES II. 

self, and could not grant to others, without the consent 
of the persons upon whom the assessment was made; 
that consent would, indeed, be implied by the acceptance 
of the charter; but then the acceptance would be by the 
whole of the inhabitants ; and if they all accepted the 
charter, it seems difficult, as has been observed before, to 
say how any select body could afterwards be separated 
from the body at large without an express charter to 
warrant it. 

In order that our readers may be enabled to put their 
own constructions upon this charter, as upon the former 
ones; we subjoin a copy of it. 

The Eighth Part of the Patents of the Thirty -fourth Year 
of the Reign of King Charles the Second. 

Of a char- The King, to all to whom, &c. greeting. Whereas 

tertothe & ' ' & & ' 

mayor and our King's town and parish of Maidstone, in our county 
tbeKing's °f Kent, is an ancient and populous town, and hath been 
^° w " of a town incorporated, and the mayor, jurats and corn- 
to them and nionalty of the town and parish aforesaid, and their suc- 

their sue- , , , . , , , , . , ,. ,.. 

cessorsfor cessors, have had, held, used and enjoyed Givers liberties, 
ever. franchises, privileges, immunities and pre-eminences, hy 

charters of divers of our progenitors and predecessors, 
Kings and Queens of England, to them heretofore made 
and granted and confirmed ; and whereas we are in- 
formed that there are certain ambiguities in many charters 
and letters patent to them heretofore made, by reason 
that some things in the same contained were not fully 
expressed nor granted by words sufficiently apt, for the 
good rule and government and advantage of the town 
and parish aforesaid, according to the true intent of the 
same charters or letters patent; and whereas our be- 
loved subjects the mayor, jurats and commonalty of the 



1682—34 CHARLES II. $3t 

town and parish of Maidstone aforesaid, have surrendered Suneader* 
to us the letters patent and charters aforesaid, and all their 
liberties, immunities and privileges whatsoever, (and which 
surrender we have accepted, and by these presents do 
accept,) and they have humbly besought that we would 
vouchsafe to grant anew all and singular their grants, 
liberties, immunities and privileges aforesaid, with the 
addition, increase, alteration and explication of certain 
liberties, grants, privileges, immunities and franchises as 
to us should seem more expedient for the public good and 
common utility of the same town and parish; know ye 
therefore, that we, desiring the increase and amendment 
of the town and parish aforesaid, and also the good name, 
estate and government of the same, as aforesaid, and will- 
ing that hereafter for ever there may be continually had 
in the same town and parish, and in the precincts of the 
same, one certain and undoubted manner and form of 
and for the keeping of the peace and good rule and go- 
vernment of the people there, and that the town and 
parish aforesaid, hereafter for ever, be, shall be and re- 
main a town and parish of peace and quietness, to the 
terror of the evil and reward of the good, and that our 
peace and other acts of justice there without further de- 
lay may be observed, of our special grace, and of our cer- 
tain knowledge and mere motion, have willed, ordained, 
constituted, declared and granted, and by these presents, 
for us, our heirs and successors, do will, ordain, constitute, 
declare and grant, that the said town and parish here- 
after be and shall be a free town and parish of itself, and 
that the mayor, jurats and commonalty of the town and Mayor, 
parish aforesaid, from the time of the surrender aforesaid, iommonaity 
by whatsoever name they were heretofore incorporated, «M»*P«rat* d 
and their successors hereafter for ever, be and shall be, by 
force of these presents, one body corporate and politic, 

k 2 



133 



1682—34 CHARLES II. 



mayor and 
aldermen of 
the King's 
town and 
parish. 



Perpetual 
succession. 



Capable. 



Plead. 



in deed, fact and name, by the name of the mayor a?id 
aldermen of the King's town, and parish of Maidstone, in the 
county of Kent, and them by the name of the mayor and 
aldermen of the King's town and parish of Maidstone, in 
the county of Kent, into one body corporate and politic, 
in deed, fact and name, we do really and fully, for us, our 
heirs and successors, erect, make, ordain, constitute, con- 
firm and declare by these presents; and that by the same 
name they may have perpetual succession ; and that they, 
bv the name of the mayor and aldermen of the Kind's 
town and parish of Maidstone, in the county of Kent, be 
and shall be at all times hereafter for ever, persons able, 
and in the law capable, to have, acquire, receive and pos- 
sess lands, tenements, liberties, privileges, jurisdictions, 
franchises and hereditaments, of whatsoever kind, nature, 
or sort they shall be, to them and their successors, in fee 
and perpetuity, and also goods and chattels, and other 
things whatsoever, of whatsoever kind, nature, or sort 
they shall be, and also to give, grant, demise and assign 
lands, tenements and hereditaments, goods and chattels, 
and all and singular other deeds and things to do and 
execute by the name aforesaid ; and that, by the same 
name of the mayor and aldermen of the King's town and 
parish aforesaid, they may and shall be able to plead and 
he impleaded, answer and be answered, defend and be de- 
fended, in any the courts and places whatsoever, and be- 
fore any the judges and justices, and other persons and 
officers whomsoever, of us, our heirs and successors, in 
all suits, plaints, pleas, causes, matters and demands, real, 
personal and mixed, and other things whatsoever, as well 
spiritual as temporal, of what kind, nature, or sort soever 
they may be, in the same manner and form as any our 
liege subjects of this our kingdom of England, persons 
able and in the law capable, may and shall be able to 



.1682^.34 CHARLES IT. 133 

plead and be impleaded, answer and be answered, defend 
and be defended, and to have, acquire, accept, possess, give, 
grant and demise: And that the mayor and aldermen of 
the town and parish aforesaid, and their successors, may 
have for ever a common seal, to serve for the doing of the Common 
causes and businesses whatsoever of them and their 
successors ; and that it may and shall be lawful to the 
same mayor and aldermen, and their successors, the same 
seal, at their pleasure from time to time, to break, 
change and make anew, as to them shall seem better to 
be and to be done. And further, we will, and by these 
presents, for us, our heirs and successors, grant and 
ordain, that hereafter for ever there be and shali be, 
within the town and parish aforesaid, one of the more 
honest and discreet aldermen of the town and parish One alder- 
aforesaid in form hereunder in these presents mentioned, man > ma > r ° r » 
to be elected, who shall be and shall be called mayor of 
the town and parish aforesaid ; and that likewise there be 
and shall be twelve inhabitants of the town and parish Twelve in- 
aforesaid, and continually inhabiting and dwelling within continually 
the town and parish aforesaid, besides the mayor of the ^ n h ^ mr \f 
town and parish aforesaid, in form hereunder in these i»g. 
presents mentioned to be elected, who shall be and shall 
be called aldermen of the town and parish aforesaid. And Aldermen. 
that likewise hereafter for ever, there be and shall be, 
within the town and parish aforesaid, from time to time, 
twenty-four men inhabiting and dwelling w T ithin the town Twenty- 
and parish aforesaid, in form hereunder in these pre- ?°, ur ,™? a 

1 k inhabiting 

sents mentioned to be elected, w r ho shall be and shall be and dwell- 
called the common council of the town and parish afore- nion-coun. 
said. And we will, and by these presents, for us, our c,1 » 
heirs and successors, grant that the aforesaid aldermen 
and twenty-four of the town and parish aforesaid for the 
time being shall be and shali be called the common coun- 



tte 



163 2 —34 CHARLES II. 



trith the 

twelve al- 
dermen. 



Common 
council 
make bye« 
law*. 



cil of the town and parish aforesaid, and shall be from 
time to time assisting and aiding the mayor of the same 
town and parish for the time being, in all causes and 
matters touching or in anywise concerning the town 
and parish aforesaid. And further, we will, and by 
these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, grant to 
the mayor and aldermen of the town and parish afore- 
said for the time being, and their successors, that the 
mayor of the town and parish aforesaid for the time 
being, and such of the town and parish aforesaid for 
the time being, icho may be, or hereafter shall be, and 
shall be called the common council of the town and pa- 
rish aforesaid, or the greater part of them (of whom the 
mayor for the time being we will to be one) may have 
and shall have full power and authority to frame, con- 
stitute, ordain and make, from time to time, such rea- 
sonable laws, statutes and ordinances whatsoever, as to 
them, according to their sound discretions as aforesaid, 
shall seem to be good, wholesome, useful, honest and 
necessary for the good rule and government of the arti- 
ficers and inhabitants of the town and parish aforesaid 
for the time being, and for declaring in what manner and 
order the aforesaid mayor, aldermen, commonalty, arti- 
ficers, inhabitants and residents of the town and parish 
aforesaid shall conduct, behave and use themselves in 
their offices, ministries and businesses within the town 
and parish aforesaid and the limits of the same, and other- 
wise for the further good and public utility, rule and 
government of the town and parish aforesaid, and the 
victualling of the same, and for raising of moneys to the 
use and behoof of us, our heirs and successors, or to the 
necessary uses of the town and parish aforesaid. And also, 
for the better preservation, government, disposition, leasing 
and demising of the lands, tenements, possessions, rents, 
revenues and hereditaments to the aforesaid mayor, al- 



1682—34 CHARLES II. 135 

dermen, and their successors, by these presents or other- 
wise given, granted, assigned or confirmed, or here- 
after to be given, granted or assigned ; and for the ac- 
counts, things and other causes whatsoever of the town 
and parish aforesaid, or touching or in anywise howso- 
ever concerning the estate, right or interest of the same 
town; and that the mayor of the town and parish afore- 
said for the time being, and such aldermen and inha- 
bitants of the town and parish aforesaid for the time be- 
ing, who are or hereafter shall be and shall be called the 
common council of the town and parish aforesaid, or the 
greater part of them, for the time being, (of whom the 
mayor for the time being we will to be one,) so often as 
they shall frame, make, ordain and establish such laws, 
statutes and ordinances so as aforesaid, in form aforesaid, 
may impose and assess such and the like reasonable pains, 
penalties, punishments and imprisonments of the body, or 
by fines and amerciaments, or either of them, against or 
upon all offenders against such laws, statutes and ordi- 
nances, or either or any of them, as and which to the 
same mayor and aldermen for the time being*, and to 
such inhabitants of the town and parish aforesaid for 
the time being, who are or hereafter shall be and shall be 
called the common council of the town and parish afore- 
said, or the greater part of them, (of whom the mayor of 
the town and parish aforesaid for the time being we will 
to be one,) shall seem to be reasonable and requisite ; and 
the same fines and amerciaments by distress or other law- 
ful manner whatsoever, to the proper use and behoof of 
the mayor and aldermen of the town and parish afore- 
said, and their successors, without account or any other 
thing to us, our heirs or successors, to be therefore ren- 
dered, shall and may be able to levy and have, without 
the impediment of us, our heirs or successors j all and 



136 



1682—34 CHARLES II. 



singular which laws, statutes and ordinances so as afore- 
said to be made, we will, for us, our heirs and successors, 
to be observed, under the pains in the same to be con- 
tained ; so nevertheless that such laws, statutes, ordi- 
nances and imprisonments, fines and amerciaments, 
be reasonable, and not repugnant nor contrary to 
the laws or statutes of this our kingdom of England. 
And for the better execution of the same our grants in 
this behalf we have assigned, constituted, named and 
made, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and suc- 
cessors, do assign, constitute, name and make our be- 
loved Robert Saunders, the younger, esquire, to be the 
first mayor. fi rs t and present mayor of the town and parish aforesaid, 
willing that the same Robert Saunders, the younger, 
shall be and continue in the office of mayor of the same 
town and parish, from the making of these presents unto 
Monday next after the feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle 
next coming, and thenceforth until another to the same 
office of mayor of the town and parish aforesaid shall be 
appointed and sworn, according to the ordinance and 
constitution hereunder in these presents expressed 
and declared, if the same Robert Saunders shall so long 
live, having first taken an oath upon the holy evange- 
lists of God, before Edwin Wyatt, esquire, or Samuel 
Wood, esquire, well and faithfully to execute the said 
office of mayor, and to which Edwin Wyatt, or to the 
aforesaid Samuel Wood, w 7 e grant power, by these pre- 
sents, to administer such oath. Also we have assigned, 
named, constituted and made, and by these presents do 
First thir- assign, name, constitute and make, the aforesaid Robert 
eluding the Saunders, and our beloved the aforesaid Samuel Wood, 
X?Jn al " Garret Gallant, John Duning, John Lanes, George 



«3ermen. 



Walker, William Weldish, Francis Curteis, Thomas 
Blisse, George Peirce, Robert Salmon, John Fowle, and 



1682- 34 CHARLES II. 137 

Thomas Marshall, to be the first and present aldermen of 
the town and parish aforesaid, to continue in the same 
offices during their lives, unless in the mean time, for 
misgovernment or misbehaving themselves in that be- 
half, or for not inhabiting and dwelling within the town 
and parish aforesaid, from their offices they or any or 
either of them shall be amoved. Also, we have assigned, 
named, constituted and made, and by these presents, for 
us, our heirs and successors, do assign, name, constitute 
and make, our beloved John Viney, Richard Wat tell, First twen- 
William Russell, Richard Heeley, John Newington, John ZtZ*- 
Cary, John Peirce, John Greenell, Robert Pangborne, council. 
Thomas Hope, Stephen Fowle, Thomas Harris, George 
Hodges, Alexander Osborne, John Tonge, Robert Brooke, 
the elder, Richard Musserey, Walter Weeks, George 
Webb, Stephen Osborne, George Manly, Matthew 
Chaundler, John How and Daniel Hope, to be the 
first and present common council of the town and parish 
aforesaid, to continue in the same offices during their lives, 
unless in the mean time, for misgovernment or misbe- 
having themselves in that behalf, or for not inhabiting 
or dwelling within the town and parish,, from the same 
office they or either or any of them shall be amoved ; and 
which aldermen and several persons of the common 
council before mentioned shall, and every of them shall, 
take their and his corporal oath before the aforesaid Oaths. 
Robert Saunders, now mayor of the town and parish 
aforesaid, well and faithfully to execute their offices re- 
spectively ; and to which Robert Saunders we grant, by 
these presents, power and authority to administer the 
oaths aforesaid. And further, of our grace, certain 
knowledge and mere motion, we do, for us, our heirs 
and successors, grant to the aforesaid mayor and aldermen 
of the town and parish aforesaid, and their successors, that 



138 



1632—34 CHARLES II. 



Annual 
election of 
mayor. 



Oath. 



the aldermen of the said town and parish and the mayor 
aforesaid for the time being, from time to time, in every 
year henceforth and hereafter for ever, on Monday next 
after the feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle, may assemble 
in some convenient place by them assigned, according to 
their pleasure, within the said town of Maidstone, and 
there nominate and assign two men then being aldermen 
of the said town and parish, or of other persons inhabit- 
ing in the same town or parish, and having lands or te- 
nements of free tenure called freehold in their own right, for 
term of their life at the least, to the intent a?id purpose that 
the said other persons so inhabiting the said, town or 
parish, and having lands or tenements of freehold afore- 
said, then there present, or the greater part of them, may 
elect a man out of the same two aldermen or inhabitants 
so named and appointed, to be named and appointed to hear 
the office of mayor of the said town and parish, and to be 
mayor of the same town and parish for the year then follow- 
ing ; and that he of the said two so named and appointed 
to be named and appointed, who by the said other per- 
sons so inhabiting and having lands or tenements of free- 
hold, or by the greater number of the same persons then 
there present, shall be elected to the office of mayor of 
the same town and parish for one whole year then follow- 
ing, if he shall so long live; and that the same person so 
elected to be mayor of the town and parish aforesaid, and 
every other person who shall be so elected to be mayor 
of the said tow n and parish, shall take a corporal oath be- 
fore his last predecessor in the same office, if the same his 
predecessor shall be then living and then present in the 
said place where the election aforesaid shall be so made, 
and if his predecessor shall be then dead or absent, then 
before other the aldermen of the town and parish afore- 
said then there present, for the faithful execution and 



1682—34 CHARLES II. 139 

true use of the said office, in the like manner and form As at Ca»- 
as the mayor of our city of Canterbury is accustomed to 
swear. And moreover, we will and grant to the afore- 
said mayor and aldermen of the town and parish afore- 
said, and their successors, by these presents, that if and so 
often as it shall happen from time to time that any person 
being mayor of the town and parish aforesaid, shall dip: 
during the time in which he shall be mayor of the town 
and parish aforesaid, or from his office aforesaid shall be 
amoved within a year next after his election and admis- 
sion, that then and so often the aldermen of the said town Election of 
and parish for the time being, from time to time for ever, vacancy. 
at such time when to the said aldermen for the time be- 
ing, or the greater part of them, it shall seem good and 
expedient, may meet in a convenient place within the 
town aforesaid by them to be assigned at their pleasure, 
and there nominate and appoint two persons then being 
aldermen of the same town and parish, or other persons in- 
liabiting in the aforesaid town and parish, and having 
lands or tenements i?z freehold as aforesaid then there 
present, to the intent and purpose that the said other 
persons, or the greater part of them, may elect one out of 
the same two aldermen or inhabitants so nominated and 
appointed to bear the office of mayor of the said town 
and parish, and to be mayor of the same town and parish 
thenceforth unto Monday next after the feast of Saint 
Andrew the Apostle then next following, and on and 
from the same day until another person shall be elected 
to be mayor of the same town and parish ; and that the 
said other persons inhabiting in the same town or parish of 
Maidstone, and having lands or tenements of freehold, then 
and there present, or the greater part of them, may elect one 
out of the same two aldermen or inhabitants so named 
and assigned to the office of mayoralty of the said town 



140 1682—34 CHARLES II. 

or parish from the same time unto the aforesaid Monday 
next after the feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle then 
next following ; and that he so elected to the office of 
mayor from the same time unto the aforesaid Monday 
next after the feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle then 
next following', and on and from the same clay until a new 
mayor in the same town and parish shall be elected, [shall 
execute the office of mayor in the same town and parish 
until a new mayor in the same town and parish shall be 
elected ;*] and that the same person so elected, and every 
person who shall be so elected to be mayor of the town 
and parish aforesaid, shall take a corporal oath before other 
the aldermen of the same town and parish then and there 
present, for the faithful execution and true use of his said 
office, in manner and form aforesaid. Also, we will, and 
for us, our heirs and successors, of our grace, certain 
knowledge and mere motion aforesaid, grant, by these 
presents, to the aforesaid mayor and aldermen aforesaid, 
and their successors for ever, that so often as it shall hap- 
Elettion on pen that either of the aldermen of the said town and pa- 
aidmnen 8 . ris ^ f° r ^ ie tm18 being shall die, or from the office of al- 
derman of the town and parish aforesaid be amoved, that 
then and so often it shall be lawful to the mayor and al- 
dermen of the said town and parish, or the greater part of 
them, for the time being, from time to time for ever, at 
such times as to them shall seem good and expedient, in 
a convenient place by them assigned at their pleasure, 
within the said town to meet, and there elect and name 
one or more other persons then inhabiting within the same 
town or parish, to be an alderman of the town and parish 
aforesaid. And that every person so elected and named 
to be an alderman of the said town and parish, from the 
time of such election, shall be an alderman of the same 
town and parish, if it shall so seem good to the mayor, 

* These or similar words are omitted in the charter. 



1682—34 CHARLES II. 141 

other the aldermen and common council, or the greater Election on 
part of them, 'during his or their life or lives. Also we vacanciesof 

1 J ° v the twenty- 

will, and for us, our heirs and successors, of our grace, fourcom- 

. . . ' . moncoun- 

certain knowledge and mere motion, grant, by these pre- oilmen, 
sents, to the aforesaid mayor and aldermen, and their 
successors, for ever, that so often as it shall happen that 
either of the common council of the town and parish afore- 
said for the time being shall die, or from the office of 
common council of the town and parish aforesaid he 
amoved, that then and so often it shall be lawful to the 
mayor and aldermen of the said town and parish afore- 
said, or the greater part of them for the time being, from • 
time to time for ever, at such times as it shall seem good 
and expedient, in some convenient place by them as- 
signed at their pleasure, within the said town, to meet, 
and there elect and nominate one or more other person or 
persons, then inhabiting within the same town or parish, to 
be of the common council of the town and parish aforesaid; 
and that every person so elected and named to be of the 
common council of the town and parish aforesaid, from 
the time of such election, shall be of the common council 
of the same town and parish, if it shall so seem good to the 
mayor, other the aldermen and common council, or the 
greater part of them aforesaid, during his or their life or 
lives; and that if any crime or sufficient and notable de- 
fault shall be found in any alderman, or in any of the 
common council there, that then the same mayor, alder- 
men and common council of the town and parish afore- 
said for the time being, or the greater part of them, may 
amove and expel him from the office of alderman, or of 
common council, of the town and parish aforesaid, and in 
his stead may elect, make, and appoint another, in form 
aforesaid. And that every person or persons so elected 
and appointed, shall, and every of them shall, take a cor- 
poral oath before the mayor of the town and parish afore- OtA, 



142 



1682—34 CHARLES II. 



Recorder 



said for the time being, well, rightfully and faithfully to 
execute their office, and from thenceforth he and they 
may and shall have and exercise his and their offices 
aforesaid, respectively, for their lives unless for mis- 
government, or not divelling within the town and parish 
aforesaid, or for any other lawful causes as aforesaid, they, 
or either of them, shall be amoved from the aforesaid place; 
and so as often as the case shall thus happen. And fur- 
ther, we will, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and 
successors, grant to the aforesaid mayor and aldermen of 
the town and parish aforesaid, and their successors, that 
they, and their successors hereafter for ever, may have 
and shall have, as anciently they have had, within the 
town and parish aforesaid, one honest and discreet man, 
learned in the laws of England, in form hereunder in 
these presents to be elected, who shall be and shall be 
called recorder of the town and parish aforesaid; and for 
the better execution of our will and grant in this behalf 
we have nominated, appointed, constituted and made, 
and by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, do 
nominate, appoint, constitute and make, our beloved Ed- 
win Wiatt, esquire, to be the present recorder of the 
town and parish aforesaid, to be continued in the same 
office during his natural life, unless for misbehaving him- 
self in the same office, or for some other reasonable 
cause, [he shall be amoved.] And further, we will, and 
by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, grant 
to the aforesaid mayor and aldermen of the town and 
parish aforesaid, and their successors aforesaid, that, from 
time to time, and at all times after the death or resigna- 
tion of the office of recorder aforesaid, or amotion from 
the said office by the aforesaid Edwin Wiatt, it may and 
Election on shall be lawful to the mayor and aldermen of the town and 
parish aforesaid for the time being, or the greater part of 



vacancy. 



1682—34 CHARLES II. UZ 

them, (of whom the mayor for the time being we will to be 
one,} in any convenient place within the town and parish 
aforesaid, by the mayor to be assigned, to elect and ap- 
point one other honest and discreet man, learned in the 
laws of England, to be recorder of the town and parish 
aforesaid, to continue in the same office so long as he 
shall well behave himself in the same office ; and so as 
often as the case shall thus happen, and that he who shall 
be elected, appointed and named to the office of recorder 
of the town and parish aforesaid, at any time or times 
hereafter for ever to the same office of recorder of the 
town and parish aforesaid, before he be admitted 
to execute the same office, shall take a corporal oath be- Oath, 
fore the mayor of the town and parish aforesaid for the 
time being, in and by all things rightly, well and faith- 
fully to do and execute, all and singular the things which 
to the said office of recorder of the town and parish afore- 
said pertain. And to which mayor for the "time being 
we do grant, by these presents, for us, our heirs and sue- \ 
cessors, power and authority to administer such oath to 
the recorder of the town and parish aforesaid for the 
time being. And that hereafter he may and shall be able 
to have, exercise, use and enjoy the same office of re- 
corder of the town and parish aforesaid. And further we 
will, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and succes- 
sors, grant to the aforesaid mayor and aldermen of the 
town and parish aforesaid, and their successors, that if it 
shall happen that the mayor of the town and parish 
aforesaid for the time being shall so labour under sick- in »icknes$ 

. . . . or absence 

ness, that he cannot attend to the necessary businesses of f the 
the town and parish aforesaid, or be allowed to quit the jj^aider- 
town and parish aforesaid, for any reasonable cause, by the ™ en to be 
mayor and aldermen of the town and parish aforesaid 
for the time being, or the greater part of them, (of whom 
the mayor for the time being we will to be one,) that 



144 1682—34 CHARLES II. 

then and so often, from time to time, it may and shall be 
lawful to the mayor of the town and parish aforesaid for 
the time being to make and constitute, from time to 
time, one of the aldermen of the town and parish aforesaid 
for the time being to be the deputy of the same mayor for 
the time being, so labouring under sickness, or for any 
reasonable cause, so as aforesaid, allowed to be absent, to 
be continued in the same office of deputy mayor of the 
town and parish aforesaid, in the absence or sickness of 
the mayor of the town and parish aforesaid for the time 
being, dining the pleasure of the same mayor of the town 
and parish aforesaid for the time being ; and which de- 
puty mayor of the town and parish aforesaid, so as afore- 
said to be deputed and constituted to be deputy mayor 
of the town and parish aforesaid for the time being, may 
and shall be able to do and execute all and singular those 
things which to the office of mayor of the town and parish 
aforesaid, within the town and parish aforesaid, pertain, 
and ought to pertain, to be done and executed during the 
pleasure of the mayor of the town and parish aforesaid, in 
the absence or sickness of the same mayor, as fully, freely 
and entirely as the mayor of the town and parish afore- 
said for the time being, if he were present, might, and 
might be able to do and execute ; and so as often as the 
Recorder— case s i ia n thus happen. Also, we will and grant, that if it 
shall happen that the recorder of the town and parish 
aforesaid for the time being, at any time shall so labour 
under . sickness that he cannot attend to the necessary 
businesses of the town and parish aforesaid, or if he be 
absent from the town and parish aforesaid by reason of the 
King's businesses, or for any other reasonable cause 
by the mayor and aldermen aforesaid to be allowed, then 
it may and shall be lawful to the recorder of the town 
and parish aforesaid for the time being to depute and 
name a man, honest and learned in the laws of England, 



same 



1682—34 CHARLES II. 145 

his deputy, to be continued in the same office during the 
pleasure of the recorder of the town and parish aforesaid 
for the time being : Provided always, and we will, that 
the said deputy-mayor and deputy-recorder of the town 
and parish aforesaid for the time being shall take a cor- Oaths. 
poral oath, before the mayor of the town and parish afore- 
said for the time being, well and faithfully to execute the 
offices aforesaid, respectively, before they enter into the 
aforesaid several offices of deputy-mayor and deputy-re- 
corder, and so as often as the case shall thus happen. And 
we will, and, by these presents, for us, our heirs and suc- 
cessors, of our special grace, and of our certain know- 
ledge and mere motion, have given and granted, and, by 
these presents, do give and grant, to the mayor and 
aldermen of the town and parish aforesaid, and their suc- 
cessors, one market within the aforesaid town of Maid- Market, 
stone, in a certain place there commonly called the Mar- 
ket-place, to be held and kept on Thursday in every 
week, hereafter, for ever, with all tallages, customs and 
other profits to market belonging, and also four fairs or Fourfaira. 
feasts, to be held and kept in the aforesaid town of Maid- 
stone, in such place where the mayor of the same town 
and parish for the time being, by proclamation to be 
therefore made, may assign them to be held, within the 
same town or parish ; to wit, one thereof to begin, in every 
year hereafter for ever, at the noon of the last day of 
April,' and to continue until the noon of the second day 
of the month of May then next following; another 
thereof to begin, in every year hereafter, upon the sixth 
day of October, to continue for two days; and another 
thereof to begin, in every year hereafter for ever, at the 
noon of the day of the vigil of the feast of the Purification 
of the blessed Virgin Mary, and to continue until the 
noon of the morrow of the same feast next following; 

L 



146 1682—34 CHARLES II. 

and the other to begin, in every year hereafter for ever, 

on the twelfth day of September, and to continue six days, 

for the selling and buying of all and all manner of cattle, 

hops and thread only ; but if either of the aforesaid days 

shall happen to be Sunday, then to be held on and upon 

the day next following : together with all and singular 

tolls, stallage and other things whatsoever, arising or 

growing from the said fairs or feasts, aud every of them, 

or by reason of the said fairs or feasts, or either of them ; 

Pie Powder, and a court of Pie Powder in the fairs and market afore- 

Fines said, and every of them, to be held : And all fines and 

amerciaments, forfeitures, profits and emoluments, as well 

within the aforesaid court of Pie Powder as by reason or 

occasion of the same coming, growing and arising. And 

that it may and shall be lawful to the aforesaid mayor and 

aldermen of the town and parish aforesaid for the time 

being, and their successors, if to them it shall so seem 

expedient, at their pleasure, from time to time, to extend 

Power to the market aforesaid beyond the aforesaid place called the 

extend the .. , , , . . , 

market. Market-place, or in some other convenient place within 
the town aforesaid the same market to hold and keep : 
Willing also, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and 
successors, granting to the aforesaid mayor and aldermen 
of the town and parish aforesaid for the time being, and 
their successors, that they and their successors hereafter 
for ever may have, receive, hold and enjoy, and may and 
shall be able to have, hold, receive and enjoy, to their own 
proper use and behoof, in and from the aforesaid market 
and fairs or feasts, reasonable piccage, sums of money for 
showing of goods and merchandises there to be sold or ex- 
posed to sale, called show money, stalling, tallage, tolls, tri- 
butes, customs, commodities, profits, rights a?id jurisdictions of 
whatsoever nature, kind, or sort, [which] at any markets, 
fairs, or feasts Within any city, borough or town in the county 



1682—34 CHARLES II. 147 

of Kent, in anywise howsoever, are or were lawfully re- 
ceived, had or taken, although the same profits be not par- 
ticularly or by express names in these presents named or 
declared. Know ye, moreover, that of our more abun- 
dant special grace, and of our certain knowledge and mere 
motion, for us, our heirs and successors, we have given 
and granted, and by these presents do give and grant, to 
the aforesaid mayor and aldermen of the town and parish 
aforesaid, and their successors for ever, view offrankpledge View of 
of all and singular the inhabitants and resiants within the ran p e &e ' 
town and parish aforesaid, and all things which to view 
of frankpledge pertain or belong, or may pertain or be- 
long, to be held before the mayor of the town and parish 
aforesaid for the time being, in a convenient place within 
the same town, by the mayor of the same town and parish 
for the time being assigned, twice in every year, (to wit,) Twice a 
once within a month after the feast of Saint Michael the 
Archangel*. And also, we give and by these presents 
grant to the same mayor and aldermen, and their suc- 
cessors, assize and assay of bread, wine and beer, and other 
victuals, within the town and parish aforesaid, and the Assize, &c. 
amendment and correction of those who cause to be done 
or offend against the assize. Also, we will, and by these 
presents, for us, our heirs and successors, grant to the 
mayor and aldermen of the town and parish aforesaid, 
and their successors for ever, that they and the common Members of 
council, and also the freemen of the town and parish ar iament * 
aforesaid, having lands and tenements as hereunder men- 
tioned, may have and shall have power and authority, so 
often as the Parliament of us, our heirs or successors, shall 
be summoned, to meet in some convenient place by them 
assigned at their pleasure, within the said town and parish 



The time fur holding the second court is omitted. 
L 2 



148 1682—34 CHARLES II. 

of Maidstone, and there to elect two fit persons for bur- 
gesses of the town and parish aforesaid, and for the said 
mayor, aldermen and common council of the town 
and parish aforesaid, and the freemen of the town 
and parish aforesaid, having lands or tenements oj 
freehold in their own proper right for tenn of their 
lives at the least, to be sent to the Parliament of us, our 
heirs or successors, and there, as well for the utility of 
our kingdom of England as for the advantage and utility 
of the town and parish aforesaid, to do as shall be expedi- 
ent and good ; and the names of which persons so elected, 
or to be elected, for burgesses of the Parliament of us, 
our heirs and successors, as is aforesaid, we will that 
the aforesaid mayor and alderman, and their successors, 
shall certify in due manner to the sheriff of us and our suc- 
cessors of our county of Kent aforesaid for the time 
being ; and the names of which persons so elected, or to 
be elected, and to the aforesaid sheriff certified, we will 
that the said sheriff of us, our heirs or successors, of the 
county aforesaid, for the time being, shall return into the 
said Parliament of us, our heirs and successors \ and that 
the same persons whose names shall be so returned shall 
be the burgesses of the same town and parish, and mem- 
bers of the said Parliament of us, our heirs or successors. 
And moreover, we will, and for us, our heirs and succes- 
sors, [by these presents grant] to the aforesaid mayor and 
aldermen of the town and parish aforesaid, and their 
successors, that every mayor of the town and parish 
aforesaid for the time being, may have full power 
and authority to exercise and execute, in the aforesaid 
town and parish, all and singular those things which to the 
Mayor clerk office of clerk of the market in anywise howsoever pertain 
of the mar- or belong, and that no other clerk of the market in any- 
wise intromit himself or themselves within the limits and 
precincts of the aforesaid town or parish. Provided 



1682—34 CHARLES IL 149 

always and we do by these presents reserve full power 

and authority to us, our heirs and successors, from time 

to time, and at all times hereafter, to amove and declare to p ower to 

be amoved, the mayor, recorder, common clerk, and either amove of ?~ 

7 r cers at the 

or ami of the justices of the peace of the town and parish will of the 

Crownt 

aforesaid for the time being at the will and pleasure of us, 
our heirs and successors, by letters under the signet of us, 
our heirs and successors, from their several offices afore- 
said ; and so often as we, our heirs or successor.-, by any 
such letters under the signet of us, our heirs or successors, 
shall declare such mayor, recorder, common clerk, and 
either or any of the justices of the peace of the town and 
parish aforesaid for the time being, to be amoved from 
their respective offices aforesaid, that then and from 
thenceforth the mayor, recorder, common clerk, and either 
or any of the justices of the peace of the town and parish 
aforesaid for the time being, so declared, or to be de- 
clared, to be amoved from their several and respective 
offices, ipso facto, and without any further process, be 
and shall be really, and to all intents and purposes what- 
soever, amoved ; and this so often as the case shall thus 
happen, any thing in these presents to the contrary 
thereof contained in anywise howsoever notwithstanding. 
And then and in such case, from time to time, so often as 
the case shall thus happen, within a convenient time after 
such amotion or amotions, another fit person, or other fit 
persons, in the place and office, or in the respective places 
or offices of such* person or persons so amoved, shall and 
may be elected and constituted, in form above in these 
presents, named. And further, w r e will and by these Common 
presents for us, our heirs and successors, grant to the c er ' 
aforesaid mayor and aldermen of the town and parish 
aforesaid and their successors, "that they and their suc- 
cessors hereafter for ever may have and shall have, within 
the town and parish aforesaid, one honest and discreet 



150 1682—34 CHARLES If. 

man, who shall be and shall be called the common clerk 
of the town and parish aforesaid. And for the better ex- 
ecution of our will and grant in this behalf, we have 
assigned, constituted and made, and by these presents, 
for us, our heirs and successors, do assign, name, consti- 
tute and make, the aforesaid Robert Saunders to be the 
present common clerk of the town and parish aforesaid, to 
continue in the same office so long as he shall well behave 
himself; and we will that the aforesaid Robert Saunders, 
before he be admitted to execute the office aforesaid, 

Oath. shall take a corporal oath upon the holy Evangelists of 

God, before the recorder of the town and parish aforesaid 
for the time being, or so many of the aldermen of the 
town and parish aforesaid who will then to be present, 
rightly well and faithfully in and by all things to do and 
execute all and singular those things which to the office 
of common clerk of the town and parish aforesaid pertain; 
and to which recorder of the town and parish aforesaid 
for the time being we grant, by these presents, for us, 
our heirs and successors, authority and power to admi- 

Election of nister such oath. And further, we will, and bvthese presents, 

common ,, . . . . r . . 

clerk on tor us, our heirs and successors, grant to the aforesaid 
vacancy. mavor all d aldermen of the town and parish aforesaid 
for the time being, from time to time, and at all times after 
the death or amotion of the aforesaid Robert Saunders 
from his office aforesaid, it may and shall be lawful to the 
mayor and aldermen of the town and parish aforesaid for the 
time being, or the greater part of them, (of whom the mayor 
for the time being we will be one,) to elect and appoint one 
other honest, sufficient and discreet man to be the com- 
mon clerk of the town and parish aforesaid, to be continued 
in the same office so long as he shall well behave himself, 
having first taken a corporal oath in form aforesaid; and 
so as often as the case shall thus happen. And further, 
we will and grant to the aforesaid Robert Saunders, 



1682—34 CHARLES II. 151 

[power and authority] to make and appoint a fit and Deputy. 
honest man to be deputy common clerk, to be continued in 
the same office of deputy common clerk during the 
vleasure of the aforesaid Robert Saunders, having* first 
taken a corporal oath in form aforesaid. And that the 
aforesaid deputy may do and execute all and singular 
those things which to the office of common clerk pertain 
and belong ; and this so often as the case shall thus 
happen. And further, of our certain knowledge and Licence to 

1 V 3 to take lands, 

mere motion, we have granted, and by these presents, for notwkh- 
us, our heirs and successors, do give and grant licence to mortmain, 
the mayor and aldermetrof the town and parish aforesaid, 
and their successors, that they and their successors may 
and shall be able to acquire, take and receive lordships, 
lands, tenements, manors, rectories, tithes, rents, rever- 
sions, services and hereditaments whatsoever, and other 
possessions whatsoever, to the yearly value o£ three hundred 3001. 
jiowids beyond all charges and reprises of any person or / 
persons whomsoever willing to give, sell or alienate the 
same to them, to hold, to them and their successors for 
ever, to the proper use and profit of the same mayor and 
aldermen of the said town and parish : and to the same 
person and persons, that they may and shall be able to 
give, grant, bequeath, sell or assign lordships, manors, 
lands, tenements, rents, reversions, services and other 
premises to the aforesaid mayor and aldermen of the 
town and parish aforesaid, and their successors, to the 
yearly value aforesaid, in form aforesaid ; the statute of not 
putting lands and tenements to mortmain, or any other 
statute, act, or ordinance to the contrary thereof made, 
passed or ordained > or any other thing, cause or matter 
whatsoever in anywise notwithstanding. Also, we grant Freemen. 
to the mayor and aldermen of the town and parish afore- 
said, and their successors, that the aforesaid mayor, alder- 
men and common council of the King's town and parish 



152 1682—34 CHARLES II. 

aforesaid, and their successors, or the greater part of 
them, may and shall be able to nominate, elect and 
admit any person or persons being an inhabitant or not an 
inhabitant of the same King's town and parish of Maid- 
stone aforesaid, a freeman or freemen of the same town 
, and parish aforesaid, and that he or they so as aforesaid, 
and as formerly heretofore in the town aforesaid hath 
been accustomed, or in any other manner named, elected 
or admitted, or to be named, elected or admitted, be and 
shall be a freeman and freemen of the town and parish 
aforesaid, and so shall be called and had during their na- 
tural lives, if he or they be not for any reasonable cause 
amoved by the aforesaid mayor, aldermen and common 
council, or the greater part of them, for the time being ; 
and which recorder, aldermen, common clerk, common 
council, and freemen, so as aforesaid, from time to time 
to be nominated, elected or admitted, and every of them 
respectively, shall take and make their several oaths upon 
the holy Gospels of God, before the mayor and aldermen 
for the time being, or the greater part of them, (of whom 
the mayor for the time being we will to be one,) well 
and faithfully to perform and execute their several offices 
Court from or places respectively. Also, we will, and by these presents 
days to* f° r us > our ne * rs alK * successors, grant to the mayor and 
fourteen aldermen of the town and parish aforesaid, and their suc- 

days. 

cessors, full power and authority to hold before the afore- 
said mayor of the town and parish aforesaid for the time 
being, within a convenient place within the town afore- 
said, by the mayor of the town and parish aforesaid for the 
time being to be appointed, a court, from fourteen days to 
fourteen days, on Tuesday, and in the same court to hold 
pleas, as well of assize of novel disseisin, and all other 
pleas, actions, plaints and suits whatsoever, in anywise 
howsoever concerning messuages, lands and tenements, 
being within the town or parish of Maidstone aforesaid, 



1682—34 CHARLES II. 153 

as any actions, suits, plaints and demands whatsoever, as 
well real and personal as mixed, happening, arising, or 
accruing within the town and parish aforesaid, or either 
of them, whether they exceed the sum of forty shillings 
or not. And that the town and parish of Maidstone afore- Bounds of 
said, and the liberties of the same, may extend themselves 
by the river Med way, commonly called the Water of 
Medway, from a certain bridge called Eastfarleigh 
Bridge, unto a certain place called Hawkwood. And 
whereas the aforesaid water of Medway, between the 
aforesaid bridge called Eastfarleigh Bridge and the place 
aforesaid called Hawkwood, doth run by and through the 
town and parish of Maidstone aforesaid, and by and through 
the several towns of Eastfarleigh, Barming, Loose, 
Boxley, Allington, and by certain streets called Millhale 
and Newhithe, in the parish of East Mailing, in our 
county of Kent aforesaid, and the same town and parish 
of Maidstone aforesaid extends itself promiscuously in, by 
and through the town of Loose aforesaid, and Linton in 
the county aforesaid, and beyond and also by the said 
towns of Eastfarleigh, Barming and Boxley, and by the 
town of Otham, in our county of Kent aforesaid, as we 
have certain knowledge : now we, intending to fix with 
certainty and to limit into what parishes, towns, hamlets 
and streets, and in what manner and how far the liber- 
ties and jurisdictions of the mayor and aldermen of the 
town and parish of Maidstone aforesaid, as to the hearing 
and determining of pleas in their court aforesaid, may 
extend themselves and reach, will, and by these presents, 
for us, our heirs and successors, of our like special grace 
and of our certain knowledge and mere motion, grant, 
ordain and declare, that the liberties of the town and parish 
of Maidstone aforesaid, and also the jurisdiction of the 
mayor and aldermen of the same town and parish, and 



154 1682—34 CHARLES II. 

For cogniz- their successors, only as to the cognizance and determina- 
oni°y.° e3S ^ on before the aforesaid mayor for the time being, and his 
successors, of all and all manner of actions personal and 
mixed, and making replevins, and to no other intents, 
constructions and purposes, hereafter extend and reach, 
and from henceforth be had, and reputed, and adjudged 
so to extend and reach, in, by and through the aforesaid 
town and the parishes of Eastfarleigh, Banning, Loose, 
Boxley, Allington, Millhale, Newhithe, Linton and 
Otham, whether the actions aforesaid, or either of them, 
exceed the sum of forty shillings or not : so, nevertheless, 
that such cognizance and determination of actions per- 
sonal, mixed, and replevins aforesaid, arising within the 
town and places aforesaid, by these presents to the same 
mayor and aldermen granted and confirmed, be not to 
the damage or prejudice of the jurisdictions, customs, 
liberties or privileges of any others our subjects there, 
having, or lawfully claiming any thing in this behalf. 
And that for the better execution of the same actions per- 
sonal, mixed, and replevins, it may and shall be lawful to 
the aforesaid mayor for the time being, in and through 
the aforesaid parishes, towns, streets and hamlets of East- 
farleigh, Banning, Loose, Boxley, x^llington, Millhale, 
Newhithe, Linton and Otham, to make and execute 
Attach- attachments, and all other legal processes and executions, 
by their sergeant or sergeants at mace, or by any other 
person or persons by the same mayor for the time being 
to be named or appointed, as the law in that behalf may 
Exemption require. Also, we will and grant, by these presents, for 
from juries. ^ om , ] ae j rs ant | snccess0 rs, to the same mayor, alder- 
men and common council, and their successors, that they, 
and every inhabitant of the same town and parish, hence- 
forth hereafter for ever, be exempt and exonerated of all 
and all manner of juries and inquisitions to be returned, 



1682—34 CHARLES II. 155 

had or taken, before any the justices whomsoever of the 
same, except in the said town of Maidstone. Also, for the 
better exemption of the inhabitants of the town and 
parish aforesaid from the juries and inquisitions aforesaid, 
of our like special grace, and of our certain knowledge and 
mere motion, we do, for us, our heirs and successors, by 
these presents, will, grant and declare, that the aforesaid 
mayor and aldermen of the town and parish aforesaid, and 
their successors,* (may be parties,) and every inhabitant, 
from time to time, of the same townand parish, be not put 
or impannelled in any juries or inquisitions to be taken be- 
fore the justices of us, our heirs or successors, to hear and 
determine felonies, trespasses and other evil deeds in the 
county aforesaid, or before thejustices of us, our heirsand 
successors, of Nisi Priiis or gaol delivery in the county of 
Kent aforesaid, or before the escheator and other the com- 
missioners or ministers of us, our heirs or successors, with- 
out rthe town and parish of Maidstone aforesaid. And 
that the sheriff of our county of Kent aforesaid for the 
time being do not put or impannel, nor shall cause to be 
put or impanelled, the aforesaid mayor, aldermen and 
commonalty, and their successors, or any the inhabi- 
tants of the same town of Maidstone, in such juries and 
inquisitions to be taken without the aforesaid town and 
parish as is aforesaid. And moreover, for the better pre- Jllstices 
servation and keeping of the aforesaid town and parish, 
and the inhabitants of the same, in peace and good rule, 
of our special grace, and of our certain knowledge and 
mere motion, for us, our heirs and successors, we have 
willed, granted and ordained, and by these presents do 



* There seems to be an omission in the charier here of some words, 
which probably were to exempt the inhabitants from serving upon 
juries in Crown causes. 



156 1682—34 CHARLES II. 

will, grant and ordain, that the mayor and recorder of the 
town and parish aforesaid for the time being, and the 
aforesaid Samuel Wood, Garret Cailant and Robert 
Sanders, the now mayor, [or the mayor of the parish and 
town aforesaid, fur one year after his mayoralty, and after 
the death or amotion of the aforesaid Robert Sanders, 
Samuel Wood and Garret Cailant, or either of them, 
one or more of the aldermen, (who shall have been mayor 
of the town and parish aforesaid.) by the mayor and alder- 
men of the town and parish aforesaid, or the greater part of 
them, to be elected, to supply and fill up the number of 
sir justices,'] be, and every of ihem shall be, a justice of the 
peace of us, our heirs and successors, within the town 
and parish aforesaid, so long as they shall well behave 
themselves, and no longer ; and to do, perform and execute 
all and singular those things which to the office of a jus- 
tice of the peace of us, our heirs or successors, pertain to 
be done, as other justices of the peace of the county of 
Kent have been accustomed to do and execute. And 
that no justice of the peace of our county of Kent afore- 
said in anywise intromit himself within the said town and 
parish aforesaid, to do any thing which to the office of 
justice of the peace there doth belong or appertain : And 
which justices of the peace now named or constituted, and 
hereafter to be elected as aforesaid, shall, and each of them 

Oaths. shall, make and take their corporal oath upon the holy 

Gospels, before the mayor and the rest of the aldermen 
then for the time being, faithfully to do and execute the 

Jurisdiction office or place of justice of the peace there. And we 

of justices. 

will, and by these presents grant, that the aforesaid 
mayor, recorder, and the rest of the justices of the peace 
of the town and parish aforesaid for the time being, as 
aforesaid, and their successors, or any three of them, (of 
whom the mayor and recorder of the town and parish 



1682—34 CHARLES II. 157 

aforesaid for the time being we will to be two,) may 
have and shallhave, henceforth for ever, full power and 
authority to inquire, hear and determine of all and sin- 
gular trespasses and evil deeds, of what sort, nature or 
kind soever, within the town and parish aforesaid aris- 
ing, as the justices in the county of Kent, two or more of 
them, as well in their session as without, by virtue of our 
commission or grant to them thereof made, may or are 
able to do, act or perform ; so, nevertheless, that they in 
nowise proceed to the determining of any treason or fe- Exemption 
lony, or of any other offence touching the loss of life or and felonies. 
members, without the special command of us, our heirs 
or successors, in that behalf. And that the aforesaid 
mayor and aldermen of the town and parish aforesaid, and 
their successors, may have, take and receive, to their own 
proper use, all and singular fines and forfeitures, and the 
issues of jurors for their not appearing, and also fines and Fines. 
forfeitures for trespasses, and other evil deeds and con- 
tempts, before the same mayor, recorder and two 
justices of the peace or three of them as aforesaid, 
withn the town and parish aforesaid, from time to 
time happening, renewing or arising. And moreover, 
of our like special grace, and of our certain knowledge 
and mere motion, for us, our heirs and successors, we 
have willed, given and granted, and by these presents 
do will, give and grant, to the aforesaid mayor and al- 
dermen of the town and parish aforesaid, and their suc- 
cessors, that the now mayor and every mayor of the 
town and parish aforesaid hereafter happening, during 
the time of his mayoralty, be and shall be the coroner Mayor 
of us, our heirs and successors, in and through the coroner ' 
town and parish aforesaid, and shall do and act, and 
may and shall be able to do and act, in as ample man- 
ner and form as any coroner. And that he, by himself, 



158 1682—34 CHARLES II. 

Deputy. or by his sufficient deputy, under the seal of the said 
mayor in that behalf to be named or deputed, may do 
and perform, and may and shall be able to do and per- 
form, all and singular that which to the office of coroner 
belongs or appertains, within the town and parish afore- 
said, in as ample manner and form as any coroner of any 
county of our kingdom of England, or of any liberty 
within the same county may, ought or can lawfully in- 
quire, act, do, execute or fulfil; (the aforesaid now 
mayor having first taken a corporal oath in that be- 
half, before the said Edwin Wyatt, well and faithfully 
to execute the same office.) And to which Edwin 
Wyatt we give and grant, by these presents, full power 
and authority to take and administer such oath ; and that 
no other coroner of our county of Kent aforesaid here- 
after intromit himself within the town and parish of 
Maidstone aforesaid, to do any thing which to the office 
Goods and of coroner belongs or appertains. And further, of our 
felons, &c. special grace, and of our certain knowledge and mere 
motion, for us, our heirs and successors, we have given 
and granted, and by these presents do give and grant, to 
the aforesaid mayor and aldermen of the town and pa- 
rish of Maidstone aforesaid, and their successors, to their 
own proper use and advantage, all and singular goods and 
chattels waived, estrays, fines, forfeitures, and other pro- 
fits and emoluments to the aforesaid mayor and aldermen 
and their successors heretofore given and granted, and 
also goods and chattels of felons and fugitives, deodands, 
and felons of themselves, persons outlawed, or put in ex- 
igent within the town and parish aforesaid, by land or 
water, hereafter falling, happening, renewing or arising. 
Mayor re- And that the mayor of the town and parish aforesaid for 
writs. tne time being, and his successors, may have and shall 

have, from time to time, the return of all and singular 



1682—34 CHARLES II. 159 

the writs, mandates and precepts of ns, our heirs and suc- 
cessors, within the town and parish aforesaid hereafter to 
be made and executed, so that our sheriff, coroner or 
escheator, in the county of Kent, or other the ministers of 
us, our heirs or successors, or either of them respectively, 
in nowise intromit themselves or himself into the same 
town and parish aforesaid, to act or do any thing in the 
premises. Also we will, and by these presents, of our wharfage, 
special grace, and of our certain knowledge and mere anc orage * 
motion, grant to the aforesaid mayor and aldermen and 
their successors, that they and their successors may have, 
receive and enjoy, and may and shall be able to have, re- 
ceive and enjoy, to their own proper use and behoof, the 
wharfage, anchorage and groundage of all and singular 
ships and other vessels of what sort or burthen soever, 
coming to the same town and parish of Maidstone, and 
reasonable wages and fees for the loading and unloading 
of merchandizes, goods and chattels, in the same ships 
or vessels, in or out of the same ships or vessels there at 
the same [town and parish] to be laden or unladen. 
And also, that the aforesaid mayor, aldermen, and Swans. 
their successors, may likewise have, by the water aforesaid, 
from the aforesaid bridge called Eastfarleigh Bridge, unto 
Hawkwood, the liberty and privilege of keeping and pre- 
serving swans and cygnets, and a swan-marlc for the same, 
and to change and alter the same swan-mark at their 
pleasure, and also to sign and mark all and singular the 
swa7is and cygnets aforesaid, swimming, breeding or fre- 
quenting out of the limits and metes by the water afore- 
said, or within the metes and limits aforesaid, and the 
banks and soil of the same; and those not legally signed 
or marked with the mark of the sign aforesaid, to sign 
and mark ; and full power and authority the swans and 
cygnets aforesaid out of the limits and metes aforesaid 



160 1682—34 CHARLES II. 

swimming or wandering, by water and land to pursue, re- 
take, lead back and re-possess, without the impediment 
of us, our heirs or successors, or of any other the officers 
Customs to or ministers of us or others whomsoever. We also, in- 

be taken. 

tending the good estate of the town and parish aforesaid, 
and the inhabitants there in the premises, and to place in 
certainty and declare the same sums of money so taken 
and had, of our special grace, certain knowledge and 
mere motion, for us, our heirs and successors, by these 
presents, grant to the aforesaid mayor, aldermen, and 
their successors, in aid, reparation and amendment of the 
bridges, ways and causeways and common edifices of the 
aforesaid water-course of Med way, and of the soil and 
banks of the same, that they, by themselves, their minis- 
ters or servants, may hereafter, from time to time for 
ever, have and receive of the merchandizes and things to 
the town of Maidstone aforesaid brought or to be brought, 
and in the markets, fairs or feasts, or otherwise, there to 
be sold, or from the town aforesaid to the city of London 
or to any other places by land or the water aforesaid con- 
veyed, brought, carried or taken, or to be conveyed, 
brought, carried or taken, these several sums of money 
and customs underwritten; that is to say, for every ton 
of wine, oil or vinegar, one penny ; for every cart laden 
with corn or grain of what kind soever, timber, fire- 
wood, iron, coals of both kinds, wrought stones, or other 
the like saleable or marketable things, one penny ; and for 
every greater or less quantity according to that rate : and 
also for every poyse or weight of cheese, butter, salt and 
other merchandize, one penny; and according to the 
same rate for every greater or less weight : and for every 
i broad cloth, one penny; for every smaller cloth, called a 
kersey, one halfpenny ; and so according to that rate for 
every greater or less quantity.: and for every quarter of 



1682—34 CHARLES II. 161 

corn or grain of what kind soever, one penny ; and so ac- 
cording to that rate : and for one hundred of sea fish 
brought or carried to the town of Maidstone aforesaid for 
sale, one penny ; and so according to that rate for every 
greater or less quantity : for every ox, steer, cow, horse, 
mare, foal and heifer, for sale, one penny ; for six sheep 
for sale, one penny ; and so according to that rate for any 
greater or less number ; for every calf or pig for sale, one 
halfpenny : for every truss of merchandize of the value of 
twenty shillings or more, one penny : and for every mer- 
chandize and saleable thing not above expressed or speci- 
fied, exceeding the value of five shillings, one halfpenny. 
Also, we grant, for us, our heirs and successors, to the 
aforesaid mayor and aldermen and common council of the Assess in. 
town and parish of Maidstone aforesaid, and their sue- habltant * 
cessors, that they, or the greater part of them, for the better 
supporting of the charges of the town and parish afore- 
said, or for other reasonable causes or respects, or for the 
public good and advantage of the same town and parish, 
and the inhabitants there, upon themselves and every 
inhabitant there, may and shall well be able, from time 
to time, to make, impose and assess reasonable taxes and 
assessments in reasonable sums of money, and the same 
by distress or other lawful means to have, receive and 
levy, as heretofore they have been used or accustomed. 
And moreover, we will, and by these presents, for us, our 
heirs and successors, grant and confirm to the aforesaid 
mayor and aldermen and common council of the town 
and parish aforesaid, and their successors, that they and 
their successors may have, hold, enjoy and use, and may 
and shall be able hereafter for ever to have, hold, enjoy 
and .use, all and singular other and such sort of liberties 
and powers and authorities, lands, tenements, heredita- 
ments, franchises, immunities, acquittances and free cus~ 

M 



162 1682—34 CHARLES II. 

toms, as and which they or their predecessors, by virtue 
of any charters or letters patent, by us, or by either of our 
progenitors, late Kings or Queens of England, or other- 
wise by any lawful manner, right or title whatsoever, 
have had, held or enjoyed : Rendering therefore to us, 
our heirs and successors, so many and the like rents and 
services, for the premises, as and which at the time of the 
surrender aforesaid were due or payable to us for the 
same. In testimony whereof, &c. witness the King, at 
Westminster, the twenty-sixth day of October. 

By the King himself. 



1682— 
Dec. 2. 



We find an entry in the words following : — 
" Maidstone (Ss.) Atan adjourned court of burghmote there 
" held, the 2d December, a. d. 1682, Robert Sanders, 
" esq. mayor. At this court, John Smyth, butcher, 
" having put himself upon his fine for his freedom, his 
" fine is assessed at ten pounds, which he accepted 
" of and paid in court — took his oath of freedom and 
" allegiance, paid his fees, and was made free." 
This entry expressly states that Smyth took the oath of 
freedom and allegiance; the latter he was obliged to take by 
the general law ; the former was probably imposed under 
the supposed authority of the charter of 17 James I., or of 
the last charter of 34 Car. II. : but as it would be justi- 
fied by the former charter (if indeed the King has by the 
constitution any power to authorize the administering 
any oath merely by his charter, except for the purposes 
of legal investigation, or for the exercise of the executive 
power vested in him,) it cannot be taken as a decisive 
proof of the corporation having acted under the latter : 
the entry does not mention whether Smyth was an inha- 
bitant or not. 



1682—34 CHARLES II. 163 

We then come to an entry for the inspection of the 
burghmote books, and for considering the bye-laws, 
whether they are fit to be continued, altered or abrogated. 

This is clearly an act done under the new charter of 
Charles II., as the aldermen act in it, and they are men- 
tioned in that charter only. 

The entry is as follows :— 
« am / Robert Sanders, esq. Mr. William Wildish. 

' (Garnet Callant, esq. Mr. Robert Salmon. 
rMr. John Vincey. Mr. Alexander Osborne. 

*'counci°L 1 Mr - RichardWattell « Mr. George Hodges. 
L Mr. Richard Heeley. Mr. John Newington. 

" It is ordered at this court, that the four aldermen above 
" said, and the said six commoners, are hereby 
" ordered and appointed, that the said aldermen or 
" any two of them, and the said commoners or any 
" three of them, do inspect the burghmote books, 
" and consider the bye-laws therein fit to be con- 
" tinued and altered or abrogated, and do make 
" report of the same at the next burghmote ap- 
" pointed to be holden for this corporation." 

*' Maidstone (Ss.) A court of burghmote there holden, 1682— 
" this 20th day of December, 1682. 34 Car. II. Dec ' 20 * 

"Thomas Buss, mayor. 
[Names of Aldermen - - - Appearing. 

The like - Defaulting. 

Common Council - - ■«- - Appearing. 
The like - - .... Defaulting.] 

" It is ordered at this court, that all and singular acts, 

u bye-laws and orders of burghmote heretofor made 

" for the good government, benefit and advantage of 

" this corporation, and were in force at the renew- 

" ing of our present charter, be confirmed, and the 

" said acts, orders and bye-laws are hereby confirmed 

" accordingly." 

m 2 



164 1682—34 CHARLES'lI. 

Courts of burghmote appear to have been frequently 
held about this period. James Gilbert, a miller, and 
Thomas Baxter, bricklayer, are at two several courts ad- 
mitted as freemen. The form used is similar to that in 
the admission of John Smyth : and entries of the ad- 
mission of Nicholas Wicking, grocer, second son of 
Richard Wicking, grocer, a freeman; and John Dodson, 
he having served his apprenticeship with James Dodson, 
thread- twister, a freeman, are nearly in the same form. 
1683— We now meet with an entry of some little consequence; 

it is of the admission of eight persons, some of them of 
rank, as freemen of the corporation. It is in the follow- 
ing form : — 
Ai? 3 " - " At a court of burghmote, &c. — At this court Jacob 
" Lord Astley, baron of Reading, Sir William 
a Twisden, bart., Sir Robert Filmer, bart., Sir 
" F. Clarke, knight, Sir W. Drake, knight, Edward 
" Digges, esq., Archibald Cluckard, esq. and John 
" Clarke, esq. came and offered themselves to be made 
"freemen of this corporation, which was very kindly 
" accepted by this court. They severally took the 
" oaths of freedom and allegiance, and were made 
" free." 
This appears to be one of those illegal acts so common 
in corporations. If these eight individuals were non- 
inhabitants, and it appears they were so, it seems clear 
that they were unduly admitted into the corporation; for 
whatever doubt may be entertained as to the right of all 
the inhabitants to be in the corporation, there can be 
no doubt but that all the corporation ought to be in- 
habitants; to hold a contrary opinion would be a strange 
perversion of the uniform words of all the charters. 

In the same year there is an order for proceeding by 
action against two persons for exercising their calling 
within the town for one month, contrary (as stated) to 



1683—35 CHARLES II. 16 5 

the orders and constitutions of the corporation, having 
been severally summoned to appear, to compound for 
their freedoms, and made default therein, and it seems to 
have been made in conformity with the power, claimed 
and exercised by every corporation, of compelling certain 
classes therein specified to become free ; and if they can 
compel any person to be free, or otherwise fine them, 
surely the persons subject to such fines, must have an 
opportunity of protecting themselves from them, by 
claiming to be made free. 

But this order, and the subsequent one of the same 
year, which is in substance like it, appear both to have 
reference to trade, and not to burgesship. The orders 
are as follow : — 

" Maidstone (Ss.) At an adjournment of the court of 
" burghmote there holden, the 14th day of August, 
" 1683, 35 Car. II. 

" Thomas Bliss, esquire, mayor. 

[Aldermen - Appearing. 

The like - - Not appearing. 

Common Council - - - Appearing. 

The like Not appearing.] 

" It is ordered, at this court, that there be an action 
" brought by the chamberlains of this corporation, or 
" by one of them, against Stephen Mankellow and 
* John Shade, for using and exercising of their sevwal 
" trades or callings within this town and parish, for 
" the space of one month last past, contrary to the 
" orders and constitutions of this corporation, they 
" and either of them having been severally sum- 
" moned to appear, to compound/or their freedoms, and 
" made default therein." 
" Maidstone (Ss.) A court, &c. holden 16th November, 
" 1683, 35 Car. II. 
u Whereas, Jeremiah Jones, Thomas Collett, gentle- 



166 1683—35 CHARLES II. 

" men, Stephen Mankellow and Robert Knight, inha- 
" bitants of this town and parish, and not freemen of 
"this corporation, have used and exercised severally 
" several trades within this town and parish for the space 
ie of six months last past, contrary to the orders and 
" constitutions of this corporation ; they and every of 
" them having been severally summoned to appear, to 
" compound for their freedoms, and having made de- 
" fault therein. It is therefore ordered by this court, 
" that they, and every of them, shall severallypay to the 
" use of this corporation, for the time past, 101. and 
"so to be made free; and if they or any of them shall 
" refuse so to do, that then he and they so refusing 
" shall also pay to the use aforesaid 40s. for the time 
" past, and 5s. the week weekly for the time to come, 
" so long as they shall use trading within this town or 
" parish." 

The following are copies of rather curious documents : 
on the one hand, they show clearly, that even in those ar- 
bitrary times, some show of fairness was made; on the 
other, they show the extent of power then usurped ; first, 
the King thought fit, and required the election of Joseph 
Wright to be mayor, and directed his admission without 
any oath excepting the oath for the due execution of the 
office ; and, in consequence, two gentlemen being put in 
nomination by the mayor and aldermen, for the commons 
to choose one, they, the commons, unanimously elected 
the person nominated by the King. We beg our readers 
carefully to peruse these documents. 
" Maidstone — The eleclon of raaior, made the 5 th day of 

" December, 1687, &c. 

" Elecion of maior — Mr. Alexander Osborne and Mr. Jo- 

" seph Wright being put in nominacon by the maior 

" and aldermen, for the comons to choose one of them 

" to be Jiiaior for the ensuinge yeare, the comons vna- 



1687^-3 JAMES II. 167 

" nimously elected the said Joseph Wright, accord- 
" ing to his Mamie's mandamus or letter mandatory, 
" directed to his trusty and welbeloved the maior, 
" aldermen and corporacon of his Ma~tie's towne of 
" Maidstone aforesaid, as followeth, that is to say : 
\ James R. 

* Trusty and welbeloved, wee great you well, whereas 
' wee have reced good testimony of the loyaltie and 
1 abilitie of our trustie and welbeloved Joseph 
' Wright, gent, wee have thought fitt hereby to re- 
' quire you to elect and admitt him to be maior of 
I that our towne of Maidstone for the yeare next 
f ensueinge, with all the rights, priviledges and pro- 

* fitt thereunto belonginge, without administringe to 
4 him any oath but the vsual oath for the due exe- 
( cucon of that office, wee being gratiously pleased 
' to dispence, as wee do hereby dispence, with his 
" takinge any other oath whatsoever; and for soe 
' doeinge this shall be your sufficient warrant; and 
' soe we bid you ffarewell. Given att our court att 
' Whitehall, the second daye of December, 1687, 
' in the third yeare of our reigne. 

' By his Ma~ tie's comand, 

' Sunderland/ 
• Wherevpon, the said Mr. Joseph Wright being then 
" p„sent, tooke the oath of maioralty, of justice of the 
" peace, and clerk of the markett/' 
There are subsequent orders to remove aldermen, 
common councilmen and other officers, and to elect others 
in their stead, which was accordingly done. 

A letter, or precept, from William Henry, Prince of 
Orange, dated at St. James's, 22d December, 1688, was 
sent to the corporation to elect two burgesses, and make 
return before 22d January then next. To which the 



168 1701—13 WILLIAM III. 

mayor, jurats and common council made a return, certi- 
fying that " the mayor, jurats and coialty had elected, 
&c. Sir Thomas Taylor, bart. and Caleb Bancks, esquire, 
&c. Dated the 9th January, in the 4ih year of James the 
Second, and in the year of our Lord 1688/' 
1701— There appears at this time to have been a contested 

" election for this borough, followed by a petition, which 
was heard at some length, before a committee. 

The right of election was agreed to be in the freemen 
not receiving alms or charity. 

The latter part of this statement, as to the alms, is not 
peculiar to Maidstone, or any other borough ; but is the 
general disqualification of the common law of all those 
who, receiving alms, are not sufficiently independent to 
be allowed to exercise the right of voting for members of 
Parliament. 

The right in effect, therefore, is only stated to be in the 

FREEMEN. 

It should first be observed, that the agreement of the 
conflicting parties, as to the right of election, does not 
bind the right : for the parties themselves cannot alter 
the right : see Glanville, 108, in the Cirencester case ; 
and the reasons upon which that principle is founded may 
be seen in Glanville, page 118, in the Middlesex case; 
although they are there applied to any species of under- 
standing between the parties. 

This agreement of the parties also will not operate as 
a last determination. The only proper effect of it is, as 
evidence of what was the right of election at the time the 
agreement was made ; if the agreement, from the cir- 
cumstances of it, was such as to warrant the inference 
that it was consistent with the right of election before ex- 
ercised in the place. And that brings it to the question, 
whether a different right of election can be shown to have 



1701—13 WILLIAM III. 169 

previously existed in this place or not: if.it can, the agree- 
ment of the conflicting parties goes for nothing ; if it 
cannot, the agreement is strong evidence of the former 
right having been consistent with it. 

For the reasons given before, in commenting upon the 
early returns, it appears that the right of election was in 
this place originally exercised, as appears by the returns, 
by the inhabitants incorporated under the name of com- 
monalty ; and the inhabitants continued to exercise that 
right without any interruption, and without all doubt, 
up to the time (at least) of the charter of 17th James I # 
which first introduced the clause for the unlimited admis- 
sions of persons non -inhabitants to be freemen. 

It has been already stated what is the proper construc- 
tion of that clause; but it seems probable that it was 
soon applied by the corporation to justify the admission 
at will of any of the inhabitants, and to exclude whom 
they thought fit of the inhabitants. 

If the clause was intended by the King not to be con- 
strued in the manner before suggested, but to be .applied 
in the manner the corporation seem to have taken it 5 
then whatever effect the clause might have had upon the 
corporation, it could not affect the previous right of par- 
liamentary election, exercised before by the inhabitants. 
See the Chippenham case, Glanv. 54, and 2 Inst. 48. 

The term " freemen," used in the resolution, is capa- 
ble certainly of being applied to the free inhabitants : and 
so applied, it would be consistent with the former usage, 
and would make the whole uniform. 

Another petition followed, after a contested election in 1702— 
the next year. The petition charges, amongst other i 4 ^""' rn 
things, that the mayor and jurats, with two of the candi- p- 5 - 
dates, and several freemen, had by bribes, and unlawful 
practices, procured several electors to vote for the mem- 



170 1702—1 ANN. 

bers returned ; so that it appears the select governing 
part of the corporation in this place, as in many others, 
had endeavoured to use the power they gradually 
usurped, for the purpose of controlling the parliamen- 
tary elections. 
R'ght. The same right was agreed as in the preceding year. 

As this petition succeeds so immediately after the for- 
mer, it does not appear materially to strengthen the in- 
ferences to be drawn from the former proceedings ; par- 
ticularly as this election was declared void, and as a pu- 
nishment upon the town for the irregularities which had 
No wnt. occurred during the last election, it was ordered that no 

writ should issue, during the session, for this place. 
See Old- There were afterwards two or three contested elections, 

tory of and petitions founded upon them, but it is doubtful whe- 
Coie^er tner tuere l * anv accurate account now extant of any 

further proceedings had upon them. 
1715— In the petition for a new charter, in 1742, 16th Geo. II. 

it is stated, that from the time of granting the charter 
of 17th James I. 1619, till this time, being nearly 
one hundred years, the jurats were elected by the mayor, 
jurats and common council ; but it will be seen hereafter, 
in Weldish's case, that it is there stated the election of 
jurats, during that period, had been by the mayor and 
jurats o?ily. The petition goes on to state, that in the 
year 1715, when party affairs ran high, and a majority of 
the then common council being in an opposite interest 
to those who then bore the principal sway in the corpo- 
ration, and could influence a majority of the jurats, the 
charter of 2d of King James I. (by which the right of 
election is restrained to the mayor and jurats) was pro- 
duced and read at a burghmote court, then held for that 
purpose ; and it was insisted and resolved upon^ by the 
governing part of the corporation, to be the method then 



1715 — 1 GEORGE I. 171 

subsisting for the election of jurats; in consequence 
whereof, the common council was from that time ex- 
cluded from intermeddling therein. 

In some MS. notes of Mr. Justice Yates, relative to 
corporation law, a case of a quo warranto against one 
Weldish, for exercising the office of jurat, is mentioned. 
It is stated to be in 2d Geo. I. 1716; but there is some 
reason to think that there is an error in the date, and 
that it ought to be 12th Geo. II. 1739, as mention is 
made of a case of the kind in a note to the case of 
Rex v. Amory, 1 Term Reports, 364, and it is there 
stated to have occurred in 13th Geo. II. 1740; and as 
that is a motion for a trial at bar, it is probable that 
the information had been moved for the year before ; 
we shall therefore postpone the mention of that case to 
the date to which it seems properly to belong. 

The petition before referred to states, that the method 1736— 
of electing by the mayor and jurats only, in exclusion of Geo * 
the common council, was pursued from the year 1715 
(1st Geo. I.) till 1736, (10th Geo. II.) when differences 
arising in the corporation, touching this right of election, 
informations in the nature of quo warranto were filed 
against seven of the jurats who had been chosen by the 
mayor and jurats only. 

Two of whom were Blount and Mussary; and in Rexv.Mua- 
Hilary Term, 12th Geo. II. their cases were argued on S. 
demurrer. 12Geo.il. 

They were jurats of Maidstone, and their election 
was disputed, as having been made by the mayor and 
jurats only, without the commonalty; at least as the 
case is reported in Andrews. But the report is short, 
and is mistated in some small particulars, and in a man- 
ner likely to mislead. 

In Blount's case, the charter of Edward VI. is stated JJf* v - 

Blount. 



172 1738—12 GEORGE II. 

as incorporating the town, when, in fact, (as observed 
before) the incorporation is of the inhabitants ; and that 
charter, with reference to the matters in dispute, is 
stated very imperfectly. 

The clause for the election of jurats, on death or amo- 
tion, enables the mayor and jurats to assemble at any 
place within the town and parish, and to elect one or 
more of the other persons then inhabiting within the town 
to be a jurat, and if a crime or other sufficient and noto- 
rious fault shall be found in any jurat, then the mayor, 
jurats and commonalty may amove him, and elect another 
in his stead, inform aforesaid. 

The proper construction of which clause is certainly not 
obvious at first sight; for it provides first that the elec- 
tion of jurats on death and amotions, generally, shall be 
by the mayor and jurats : and afterwards directs, that the 
amotions on particular occasions (that is for crimes and 
notorious faults) shall be made by the mayor, jurats and 
commonalty, who are to elect another in his stead : thus 
creating an apparent inconsistency; unless it can be re- 
conciled by supposing that the first part of the clause ap- 
plies to ordinary vacancies, and the latter part to vacan- 
cies produced by the commission of crimes: but, even 
taken in that view, the construction is by no means sa- 
tisfactory ; and tbe proper construction, in all proba- 
bility, is, that the elections of jurats is given on all vacan- 
cies to tbe mayor and jurats by virtue of the concluding 
words of the clause, which directs that the elections shall 
be in form aforesaid, which, it is conceived, means that 
they shall be by the mayor and jurats, as directed in the 
former part of the clause, although the grant is to the 
corporate body of the mayor, jurats and commonalty. 

The clause in the charter of Elizabeth, for the election 
of jurats, is precisely the same as that of Edward VI., ex- 



1738—12 GEORGE II. 173 

cepting that it describes the office as jurat of the town and 
parish; and authorizes the assembling at anyplace within 
the town, to elect from the persons then inhabiting within 
the town and parish ; a whimsical variation in the adop- 
tion and rejection of the word " parish/' which is only to 
be accounted for by the general inaccuracy of these 
charters. 

The corresponding clause in the 2nd James I. directs, 
that when any jurats of the town and parish shall die, 
or for reasonable cause be amoved, the mayor and jurats 
may assemble at any place within the town, and elect one 
or more other persons, being of the commonalty of the town 
or parish, and then inhabiting within the town or parish, 
being freemen of the town and parish, and having free- 
holds. And in other respects is the same as the clause of 
Edward VI. and the 2nd of Elizabeth, excepting that it 
directs the amotion to be made by the mayor, jurats and 
commonalty, being freemen and freeholders. 

The charter of the 17th James I. misrecites both the 
charter of Elizabeth and the 2nd of James I. as to the 
election of jurats, as has been observed before : and for 
the purpose of removing all doubts, directs that the mayor, 
jurats and commonalty may elect any person inhabiting 
within the town and parish, although such person be not a 
freeman of the town, and hath not a freehold ; and any 
freeman elected, refusing to take the office, is to be fined 
by the mayor, jurats and commonalty. 

x\fter the particular inquiry into all these clauses, 
which this question as to the election of jurats has sug- 
gested, still it seems clear that the inhabitants were the 
corporators. The commonalty mentioned in all these 
clauses were (as observed before) the inhabitants ; and 
the eligible were also to be inhabitants; which seems 
strongly to confirm the opinion that they were the corpo- 
rators. Because it seems hardly reasonable to suppose 



174 1738—12 GEORGE II. 

that the King would have made persons eligible for so im- 
portant an office of the corporation as jurats, who were 
not members of the corporation. 

The charter of 2d James I. certainly requires that the 
eligible should also be freemen and freeholders ; but the 
17th James I. expressly directs that neither of those qua- 
lifications should be necessary : and so far tends to show 
that they had no connexion with the corporate character. 
It is true that the fine is, by the 17th James I., to be im- 
posed on the persons who refuse to take on themselves 
the office of jurats : but this probably is to be explained 
(as suggested before) by considering the persons who are 
eligible, and compellable to take this office upon them, 
to be the free inhabitants of the place. 

And it must be remembered, that after all these clauses 
had been brought under the consideration of the court 
in this case, the election is determined not to be in the 
mayor and jurats alone, but in the mayor, jurats and 
commonalty; which, for the reasons given before, and 
supported by the clear construction of all the charters, 
means the " inhabitants" 
Rexv.Mus- Mussary's case was in substance, at least as far as re- 
lates to the present inquiry, the same as that of Blount. 

It may however be observed, that the defendant, in his 
plea, grounds his eligibility on his being an inhabitant and 
freeman ; which is, in substance, that he is a free inhabi- 
tant ; and accords with the construction of the charter 
before insisted upon. 

The judgment in each of these cases was against the 
defendant; and it appears from the petition in 1742, that 
five others, against whom similar informations were filed, 
and whose elections stood upon the same footing, dis- 
claimed; so that there remained only three jurats, who 
had been chosen by the mayor, jurats and common 
council, before the alteration in 1715. 



fiary 



1738—12 GEORGE II. 175 

As the prosecutors in Mussary's case were obliged to 
obtain a rule upon the corporation to produce the 
charter of 17th James I., upon the trial of the issues in 
those causes, it seems probable that the select body of the 
corporation were aware how hostile that charter was to 
their exclusive power, and on that ground were anxious 
to keep it back. 

That such was the object of the select body of the cor- 
poration seems very probable from the fact which is 
stated in the case of the King against Weldish, (the next 
transaction which is material in the history of this place,) 
that although the charter of 17th James I. expressly gave 
the election of jurats to the commonalty ; the jurats ne- 
vertheless, from the granting of that charter, retained 
the election in themselves, and it will be observed also, 
that the bye-law made in the reign of James I. for the 
election of jurats by the common council, (created by the 
bye-law of the 5th of James I. before mentioned,) was in 
this case held by the court to be illegal and void. 

It further appears by the petition in 1742, that a burgh- 
mote was held in this same year, at which the three re- 
maining jurats, (one of them presiding as mayor,) three 1738— 
common councilmen, and fifty-four freeholders were pre- 
sent, when fifteen persons, elected from the freemen, 
freeholders and inhabitants, were, by unanimous consent 
of the whole court, elected and sworn common coun- 
cilmen. Six of the common council were put in nomi- 
nation for jurats by the mayor, jurats and common 
council ; three of whom were elected and sworn, (as it 
is stated in the petition,) agreeably to the ancient custom. 
But no such custom, or indeed any trace whatever of 
such a nomination and election of jurats, appears before 
in any of the charters, or indeed in any of the documents 
relating to the corporation. 



176 1738—12 GEORGE II. 

Soon after this new election, the persons who had been 
ousted as jurats, and their friends, attacked the titles of 
the three jurats who were elected previously to 1715 by 
the mayor, jurats and common council, and not by the 
commonalty at large, as required by the charter 17th 
James I. : and accordingly informations in nature of quo 
warranto were filed against each of them. 

The following is an extract from the MS. notes of Mr. 
Justice Yates of the motion against Weldish, who, no 
doubt, was one of the three. 

[It appears from the note in 1st Term Reports, 364, 
that there were similar quo warrantos at the same time 
against Reidand Curteis, who probably were the other two.] 
" The borough of Maidstone have had several charters, 
" whereby the election of jurats was delegated to the 
" mayor and jurats. The whole corporation passed 
" a bye-law that the election of jurats should be 
" made by the mayor, jurats and a select party of the 
" commonalty, called common council. Under this 
" bye-law several elections had been made. And 
" afterwards, (17th James I.,) that King granted 
" them a new charter, enabling the mayor, jurats 
" and commonalty to elect jurats; and from that time 
" to the year 1715, the election had been carried on 
" by the mayor and jurats only : and by them the 
" defendant was elected." 
Note. — It has been seen before, that, in the petition in 
1742, 16th George II., it is stated that the elec- 
tion of jurats from 1619, (the 17th James I.) to 
1715, was constantly by the mayor, jurats and 
common council. 
" Upon a motion for leave to file an information in the 
" nature of a quo warranto against the defendant, to 
" try his right to be a jurat of the town, — 



1738—12 GEORGE II. I77 

** Two things were insisted upon for him. First, That 
" notwithstanding the last charter, enabling the 
" whole corporation to choose jurats, yet, to prevent 
" popular confusion, that right might be circum- 
" scribed by a bye-law to a less number ; and 
" therefore a bye-law, that the mayor, jurats and 
" common council should elect, was good ; and al_ 
" though no such bye-law appeared to be made after 
u the 17th James, or was extant in writing, yet so 
" constant and uniform an usage, as appeared in the 
" present case, till 1713, (nearly a hundred years,) 
u was undeniable evidence of such a bye-law. 

" Secondly, That the defendant being elected in 1715, 
" and having so clear a title, not impeached in all 
" that time till now, the Court ought not, at this 
" distance of time, to permit an inquiry into the 
" right : but (as in all other cases) the length ofpos- 
" session ought to incline the Court to do and pre- 
" sume every thing that might possibly contribute to 
" support the right of the possession.* 

" Sed per Curiam. 

" It is very plain that the bye-law, precedent to the char- 
" ter of 17th James, as it tended to enlarge the nura- 
" ber of electors, was illegal and void : and though 
" it must be admitted that a bye-law to restrain the 
" number is good, yet such bye-law must either be 
" in writing or supported by such an usage as is clear 
" evidence of it. 

" If we should refuse an information, we must do it upon 
" a supposition that the party against whom it is 
" prayed has a plain and manifest title to the fran- 



* But see per Curiam in Rex v. Alexander John, mayor of Lost- 
withiel, 8 Mod. 135.— 9 Geo. 1. 1723. 



m 



1738—12 GEORGE II. 

" chise he exercises : his right, in such a case, ought 
" to appear in the clearest manner. In the present 
M case it stands thus. From the 17th James, to the 
* time of his election, the manner of choosing has 
"been uniform, and if that was the whole of 
" the case, it would be the strongest evidence of 
" such a bye-law being made, under the charter, as 
" would be sufficient to justify his election. But then 
W it must be considered that the elections preceding voere 
" made on the same day, and under a bye-law that was 
t( most certainly void. Whether the subsequent elections 
" might not proceed under the same bye~Iaivs does not 
" appear. 
" It is not a foreign supposition that they did ; and, if they 
" did, there can be no question that they were all irre- 
" gular to justify such an election. In opposition to 
" the last charter, there must be a bye-law ; and 
lt whether there ever was such an one or not does not 
" now appear, but only from the usage ; the force of 
fe which is greatly impaired by the former usage ; which 
" seems in some measure to account for the latter. 
" This suffices to show the difficulty about the defendant's 
" title, and that it is impossible for us to say it is so 
" clear that there can be no controversy about it, 
" and therefore it is a proper thing to be tried." 
Accordingly, informations in the nature of quo warranto 
were filed in each of these cases, to which the defendants 
pleaded the several charters which had been granted to 
the borough ; particularly the power of making bye-laws 
granted by the charter of the 2d James I. to the mayor, 
jurats and commonalty. And set out the supposed bye- 
law of 10th August 1619, 17th James I., before men- 
tioned, which gave the election of jurats to the common 
council ; and which the defendant insisted was a legal 



1739—13 GEORGE II. 179 

bye-law, notwithstanding the charter of that King, in the 
same year, gave the election of jurats to the may or, jurats 
and commonalty at large ; and Which bye-laW they insisted 
had been acted upon from the 17th James L, till the 
Ut Geo. I. 1715. 

It also appears, from the short note in 1st Term Reports* 
364, of the motion in this case for a trial at bar, that the 
defendant pleaded a bye- law not extant in writing; and 
that the prosecutor, in his replication, set out another bye- 
law, and it was contended that the usage of electing, by 
the common council, had been under the latter bye-law, 
and not under the former. 

These cases were thought of such importance, that 
there was a trial at bar in one of them, and a verdict 
being obtained against the defendant, and judgment of 
ouster entered accordingly, the two other disclaimed. 

An information in the nature of quo warranto was moved 1739 

for against one of the six new jurats elected, as men- ^ T eo * lr ' 
tioned before, on the 10th January 1738. 

This quo warranto was tried in Easter Term, 1741, and 1741 

it being insisted that the three jurats, who attended at the 15 Geo * IL 
election, had been since removed by quo warranto, they 
were not good jurats at that time, and consequently there 
was no good jurat attending the election. 

In the petition of 1742, the thus applying the ouster 
of the three jurats retrospectively against the persons 
elected by them, who were no parties thereto, w r as treated 
as a hardship, and apparently disputed as law; but that 
point is now clearly established law, and cannot be dis- 
puted, and indeed was in this case acted upon by the 
Court, and a verdiet being found against the defendant, 
and judgment of ouster accordingly, the other five dis- 
claimed ; so that the corporation was left without a 
jurat. 

N 2 



16 Geo. II. 



180 1741—15 GEORGE II. 

In consequence of these proceedings the corporation 
became dissolved, or at least was unable to continue it- 
self: upon which an application was made to the Crown 
for a new charter, about the year 1743. 
1743— Two petitions were presented to the Crown, and it 

should be observed that each of them were by the free- 
men, freeholders, and others inhabitants of the town. 

The petition, which was stated to be " by far the 
greatest number of the freemen, freeholders and others in- 
habitants" stated shortly the several former charters 
granted by the Crown, namely, those of Edward VI., 
Elizabeth, 2 James I., 17 James I., and 34 Car. II. 

The charter of Edward VI. is erroneously described 
(as in the report of Blount's case in Andrews) as incor- 
porating the town, instead of the inhabitants, by the name 
of the mayor, jurats and commonalty; a mistatement 
somewhat material, as appears by the inferences drawn 
from the particular words of that and the subsequent 
charters. 

Neither, in the statement of this charter, is it men- 
tioned, that the first mayor and jurats are described as 
inhabitants, and that their successors were to be the 
same. 

A similar observation may be made as to the statement 
of the charter of Elizabeth, and of the 2d of James I. ; 
with respect to the latter of which, it is said, that it gave 
a power of making bye-laws, as if for the first time ; but 
in fact the charter of Elizabeth had previously given that 
power. 

From these mistatements of the charter in this petition 
to the Crown, it is obvious, either that the corporation 
did not know their own rights, or that they had some ob- 
ject in misrepresenting them. 

The petition then states the bye-laws, which have 



1743—16 GEORGE II. 181 

been mentioned before, and describes them as having 
been made in pursuance of the charter of 2d James I. 

It also states the several proceedings of the corpora- 
tion before enumerated, and the successive removals of 
the jurats, till none were left. 

It then sets out the usual mode of electing the mayor, 
by the jurats nominating two of the jurats, of whom the 
commonalty at large were to elect one to be mayor; but 
as there were no jurats, there was not, and could not be 
any mayor. 

They then set out a counter-petition, which to their 
surprise had been presented to the King in the name of 
the freemen, freeholders and other inhabitants: and which 
stated the inconveniences arising from all the commonalty 
assembling at the court of burghmote. 

Of this counter-petition they complain, as framed to 
break in upon the right of the commonalty to assemble 
at the burghmote court, which, they say, had been exercised 
not only under the authority of the former charters and im- 
memorial usage, but was in itself also a very reasonable and 
necessary liberty, and agreeable to the laws and constitution 
of a free country : and they deny the existence of the in- 
conveniences which were suggested. 

Wherefore they pray the King to grant them a new 
charter, confirming the charter of 17 James I., and con- 
tinuing the right of electing the mayor, jurats and other 
officers, as was established by the said charter of James I., 
and which had been observed for such a length of time, 
that so the ancient form and method of government might 
be revived and confirmed. 

Both these petitions were, in the ordinary course, re- 
ferred to the attorney and solicitor-general; who heard 
counsel on both sides, and reported, " that the parties 
agreed as to the persons who were to constitute the corpora- 



182 1743— 16 GEORGE II. 

tion, and as to the election of mayor, &c, but that they 
differed chiefly as to the election of jurats; one side in- 
sisting that the mayor and jurats only, or at most the 
common council, should have the right 5 and the other 
that the whole body should possess it, according to the 
charter of 17 James L, without any common council. 

" That the former insisted that the three first charters 
had given this right of election to the mayor and jurats 
only : that the charter of 17 James I. was only intended 
to alter the qualification ; but, by a misrecital of the 
former charters, the manner of the election was altered, 
and yet the commonalty had never exercised the right. 

" That the latter insisted, that although the right had 
been exercised by the select body, yet it was still virtually 
the act of the body at large : and that it was more agree- 
able to the ancient constitution of the place to restore the 
right to the commonalty, and leave it to them to delegate 
it when they found any inconvenience in the general ex- 
ercise of it." 

And the attorney and solicitor general recommended 
i that a new charter should be granted to the inhabitants 
agreeably with the charter of 17th James I. in all points 
not disputed between the parties. 

And as to the election of jurats, and the existence of a 
common council, in order to make the corporation as 
consistent with the ancient usage as possible, 
First. — That after naming the mayor and twelve jurats, 
forty of the remaining principal inhabitants should 
be the common council ; and that upon any vacancy 
of a common councilman, the mayor, jurats and 
commonalty should elect another inhabitant. 
Second.-— That the jurats should be elected out of the 
common counciltnen by the mayor, jurats and com- 
mon council. 



1743—16 GEORGE II. 183 

Third. — That the making of bye-laws, and the amotion of 
jurats and common councilmen, should be in the 
mayor, jurats and common council. 
Both sides were dissatisfied with this report, and pre- 
sented petitions against it. 
Those for the select body requesting — 

First. — That the common council should be twenty-four, 
not forty. 

Second. — That the mayor, jurats and common council, 
should fill up vacancies of common councilmen. 

Third. — That the mayor and jurats should fill up the va- 
cancies of jurats. 
Those for the commonalty requested — 

Tliat there should be no common council, (having, no doubt, 
experienced the encroachments and usurpations to 
which such bodies were usually prone) and that, to 
preserve the ancient form and method of government in 
the said corporation, the charter should be granted 
to the mayor, jurats and commonalty; and that the 
right of electing and amoving jurats should be in 
the mayor, jurats and commonalty; and that the 
commonalty should elect the mayor ; — for the fol- 
lowing reasons : 

That the real question was, whether the new charter 
should be in conformity with the early charters, un- 
der which, as long as they existed, the corporation 
enjoyed perfect peace and security ; or with that of 
34th Car. II. which at the Revolution was declared 
illegal and void ; and which question, they contend- 
ed, admitted of no doubt. 

That if the plan of the charter of Car. II. should be pur- 
sued, it would be to establish by legal authority, the 
usurpation of the mayor and jurats upon the com- 
monalty ; but to make the new charter agreeable to 



184 1743— 16 GEORGE II. 

the former ones will be to preserve and continue the 
old rights and ancient forms and method of government , 
which have been immemorially established in this cor- 
' ', poration. 
That the Crown would never take away from the com- 
monalty at large this their valuable right, and place 
it in a select number of common council. 
That the election of jurats has for three hundred years 
been in the commonalty at large, and that the com- 
mon council was of their election, and acted under 
their authority, and by virtue of rights vested in the 
commonalty at large ; which delegation of power to 
persons elected by themselves was very different 
from a select body of common council appointed by 
the charter, vested with rights independent of them, 
and thereby made an ^aristocracy to dispose of their 
rights. 
They therefore pray, that the rights of the commonalty 
may be preserved, and the charters be granted as 
before requested. 
1747— In pursuance of these proceedings, about five years af- 

21 Geo. . terwar( j s ^ a liew charter was granted by George II. 
Recital. Which recites, as the fact truly was, that the inhabit- 

ants had enjoyed divers liberties, &c. by the name of the 
mayor, jurats and commonalty. 

It then declares Maidstone to be a free towii; and, 
proceeding upon the petition of the freemen, freeholders, 
and other inhabitants, in the same manner in effect as the 
charter of Edward VI. and all the succeeding charters 
did, (with the exception of the 34th Car. II. which 
only mentions the commonalty,) incorporates again the 
Incorpora inhabitants, by the name of the mayor, jurats and com- 
monaliij. 
The usual corporate powers and a common seal 



tion 



1747—21 GEORGE II. 185 

are then granted, and the bounds of the town con- 
firmed. 
Thirteen of the inhabitants are to be jurats. Thirteen 

One of them to be mayor. Mayor. 

Forty of the remaining principal inhabitants are to be Common 

. .. council. 

the common council. 

The mayor, jurats and common council, of whom the Bye-laws. 
mayor is to be one, are to have the power of making bye- 
laws; which is expressly extended to the manner and 
order in which the mayor, jurats and commonalty, and 
the officers, ministers, burgesses, artificers, inhabitants 
and residents, shall behave themselves, and use their 
offices ; and the usual power of enforcing the bye- laws 
by fines and distress are given, and the proviso added 
that the bye-laws be not contrary to the laws of the 
realm. 

The first mayor, jurats and common council are named The firs, t 
for life, unless removed. 

On vacancies of jurats by death or removal, the mayor, fancies of 
jurats and common council are to elect any person not of 
the common council to be a jurat, and power is given to 
the mayor, jurats and common council to fine any person 
elected who shall refuse to fill the office: such fine to be 
levied on his goods and chattels : a power which, it is 
quite obvious, presupposes that the person is an inhabit- 
ant householder in the place; because against no other 
person could the corporation exercise such a power; 
their jurisdiction, franchises and power being strictly li- 
mited, by the common law, to the bounds of the town 
and parish; beyond which they could neither summons, 
fine or distrain any person whatever. 

On vacancies of common councilmen by death or re- Vacancies in 
moval, the mayor, jurats and commonalty are to elect any council. 
person out of the remaining principal inhabitants to be a 



186 1747—21 GEORGE II. 

common councilman ; and a similar power of punishing 
recusants by fine and distress is given. 

Every principal inhabitant is made subject to a fine, if 
he does not take an office imposed upon him by the cor- 
poration. It is absurd to suppose that they could hare 
that power over persons not members of their body ; and 
thus a general bye-law to this effect made by the corpora- 
tion of Oxford was held void, because it might affect 
strangers, which a corporation cannot do. Dodwick's 
case, 1 Bulst. 11. Franklin v. Green, 2 Ver. 31.— 3 Lev. 
293,-1 Lev. 392. 

Nor could the King by his charter make such a grant ; 
for it is an imposition not allowed by the law ; Law of 
Corporations, 218. 

It is contrary to natural justice that a person should be 
subject to the burthens of the corporation, if he were not 
also to share in their privileges: this clause therefore ap- 
pears to raise a decisive inference that the inhabitants were 
still treated by the Crown, in granting this charter, as the 
corporators. 
Removal of Power is then given to the mavor and the rest of the 

jurats and . 

common jurats and common councilmen to remove any jurat or 

counciimen. common councilman for any crime, or other sufficient 
and notorious offence. 

The election The jurats are annually to nominate two of the jurats ; 
mayor * of whom the jurats and commonalty are to elect one to be 
mayor, who is to take an oath of office, &c. 

It should here be observed, that by the clear construc- 
tion of this charter, as well as of all the former charters* 
the commonalty here mentioned are the inhabitants y they 
being incorporated under the name of commonalty. 

Vacancies of A similar mode of election is directed on the vacancy 
created by the mayor in the middle of his year : at which 
election the senior jurats present are to preside. 



1747—21 GEORGE II. 187 

In case of the sickness, or absence for reasonable cause, Deputy 
of the mayor, he is enabled to appoint one of the jurats maycr 
to be his deputy, during his pleasure. 

The mayor and jurats are enabled to elect one man Recorder. 
learned in the law of England, to be recorder during the 
pleasure of the mayor and jurats. He is enabled to ap- 
point another person, learned in the law of England, to be 
his deputy during his pleasure. 

Two sergeants at mace are to be appointed by the Sergeants at 
mayor; and their duty is specified, and their oath pre- 
scribed, as well as the maces they are to bear. 

The market, fairs, stallage, priseage, &e. and court of Markets, 
Pie Powder, with all fines, are confirmed. airs ' c * 

The charter then provides, that the mayor, jurats and Freemen. 
commonalty may nominate, elect and admit any person, 
being an inhabitant or not an inhabitant, a freeman of the 
town and parish : and the person so nominated, elected or 
admitted, and the persons heretofore nominated, elected 
and admitted, in any other manner heretofore accustomed 
in the town, may be a freeman of the town , and parish, 
and so may be called and held during their natural lives, 
if not removed for any reasonable cause by the mayor, 
jurats and commonalty. 

And the next clause prescribes the oath to be taken by Oath, 
the recorder, deputy recorder, jurats, common council- 
men and freemen, before the mayor and jurats, (of whom 
the mayor is to be one,) for the faithful execution of their 
several offices and places respectively, as they have here- 
tofore been used and accustomed. 

These two clauses are in effect, and almost in words, the 
same as the corresponding clauses introduced, for 
the first time, in the charter of 17th James I. The 
only difference seems to be the substitution of or for 
and in the part of the clause which speaks of the 



188 



1747 — 21 GEORGE II. 



Court. 



Bounds. 



Exemption 
from juries. 



Justices. 



persons nominated, elected or admitted, which pro- 
bably was purely accidental, and not intended to pro- 
duce any real difference in the effect of the charters. 
If by the same species of hypercritical construction of 
every word (which has sometimes been adopted) 
this variance must in some manner be accounted for, 
the only reasonable explanation of it is, to suppose 
that it was introduced for the purpose of showing 
that either nomination, election or admission would 
make a freeman, and that all three were not neces- 
sary; which, however, is not very likely to have been 
intended. 
These clauses have already been observed upon in the 
comments on the charter of 17th James I., and it is 
therefore useless to repeat them in this place. 
The court from 14 days to 14 days is confirmed with all 
its jurisdiction. 

The bounds of the town are defined anew : and power 
is given to the mayor to execute attachments, &c. within 
those limits. 

The clause as to the exemption from juries is in sub- 
stance and effect the same as the corresponding clause in 
the 2d of Queen Elizabeth, which it confirms. Observa- 
tions have been made upon that clause, which are unneces- 
sary to be repeated here. 

For preserving the town and parish and the inhabitants 
thereof in peace and good government, the mayor, re- 
corder, and three of the most ancient in the degree and 
order of jurats, are to be justices of the peace, and are to 
take their oaths as such \ the justices of the county not 
intromitting. These (of whom the mayor and recorder 
are to be two) are to hear and determine all misde- 
meanors, &c. arising within the town, with a proviso not 
to determine any treason, felony, or offence touching 
life or lives. 



1747—21 GEORGE II. 189 

Trie fines are given to the mayor and commonalty. Fines. 

The mayor or his deputy is to be coroner, first taking Coroner. 
an oath duly to execute the office before the former 
mayor 5 and no coroner of the county is to intromit. 
The fines are given to the corporation; and the mayor is 
to have the return of writs, so that no other officer of the R et uniof 
Crown should intromit. wnts - 

Wharfage, anchorage, &c. are also granted, and the Anchorage> 
right of keeping and marking swans. &c - 

The mayor, jurats and commonalty are empowered to Assess- 
assess, upon every inhabitant, reasonable sums of money 
for the public good and benefit of the town and parish, 
and the inhabitants thereof. 

This clause, for the reasons mentioned before, with 
respect to the fines for refusing office, clearly shows that 
the inhabitants were the persons who were to bear the 
burden, and consequently, by natural equity, to share the 
privileges of the place. 

All lands, privileges, franchises, liberties, &c. enjoyed Corpora- 
before the dissolution, are confirmed in the ordinary t,on * 
ample words. 

And that the grant shall be good, notwithstanding the 
not mentioning or naming the premises. 

And notwithstanding the not duly reciting the former 
charters. 

And the charter is to be without fee. 
So far from any thing in this charter affecting, or in 
any degree defeating the title of the inhabitants to the 
rights and privileges granted by it, or enjoyed under former 
charters, it appears, like those charters, clearly to esta- 
blish their right by every inference to be drawn from it, 
and to be throughout clear, uniform and consistent, if 
construed so as to make the inhabitants the object of it; 



190 1747—21 GEORGE il. 

but obscure, disjointed and inconsistent, if the inhabitants 
are not treated as the grantees spoken of in it. 

And there is no doubt that the general clause of con- 
firmation operates as a revival of all their former rights, 
as far as they were not altered by this charter, and that 
the inhahitants were competent to accept this charter. 

But, in fact, no question arises whether the privileges 
exercised before this charter are confirmed by it, because 
the charters, in substance and effect, as far as the present 
subject of inquiry is concerned, are uniform throughout. 

And the same class of persons who were to enjoy the 
privileges under the first charter of Edward VI., namely, 
the inhabitants, were also to enjoy all the privileges 
granted by each of the subsequent charters ; and we sub- 
mit that this last charter, now the governing charter, is 
capable of that construction alone, and of no other. 

In order that the whole of the charters may appear be- 
fore the reader, we set forth a copy of it. 



George the Second, by the grace of God, of Great Bri- 
tain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, 
and so forth. 

To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting: — i 
Hechal of Whereas our town and parish of Maidstone, in our county 
charters. of Kent, is an ancient and populous town: and whereas the 
inhabitants of the said town and parish have had and en- 
joyed diverse liberties, jurisdictions, franchises, prehemi- 
nences and immunities, by virtue of certain charters and 
letters patent of incorporation, of diverse of our ancestors or 
progenitors, Kings or Queens of England, by the name of 
the mayor, jurats and commonalty of the town and parish 
of Maidstone, in the county of Kent, or by whatsoever other 



1747—21 GEORGE Ii. 191 

name or names they were called. And whereas, it has Petition of 
been represented to us by the humble petitions of the freeholders 
freemen, freeholders and other inhabitants of our said andinhabi- 

7 tants. 

town and parish of Maidstone, that diverse disputes have 
of late arisen within the said town and corporation, and in- 
formations in nature of quo warranto having been prose- 
cuted in our court of King's Bench, and judgment of ouster 
obtained against all the acting jurats of the said corpora-' 
tion, so that the said corporation is now dissolved, and the 
said town is incapable thereby of enjoying their said li- 
berties and franchises. We willing that for ever here- 
after there may be constantly had in the said town and 
parish one certain and indubitable method for and concern- 
ing the mayor, jurats and other officers and ministers elective 
in the same town and parish, and for and concerning the 
keeping of our peace, and the good order and govern- 
ment of our people there; and that the town and parish 
aforesaid for ever hereafter may be and remain a town 
and parish of peace and quiet, to the dread and terror of 
evil doers, and to the reward of good men, and that our 
peace and other acts of justice may be preserved there 
without any further delay ; know ye therefore that we, 
at the humble petitions of the freemen, freeholders and 
other inhabitants of the King's town and parish of Maid^ 
stone, in the county of Kent, and by and with the ad- 
vice of our privy council, of our especial grace, cer- 
tain knowledge and mere motion, have willed, granted, 
ordained, constituted and declared, and by these presents, 
for us, our heirs and successors, do will, grant, ordain, 
constitute and declare, that the said town a -id parish of Dec j areff 
Maidstone, in our county of Kent, may and shall be and the tow « *& 
remain for ever hereafter a free town and parish of itself ; 
and that the inhabitants of the same town and pa- 
rish, by whatsoever name or names of incorporation or incor- 



192 1747—21 GEORGE II. 

porations they have heretofore been incorporated or called^ 
and whether they have heretofore been incorporated or out, 
shall and may be for ever hereafter one body politick and 
corporate, in deed and in name, by the name of the mayor, 
jurats and commonalty of the King's town and parish of 
Maidstone, in the county of Kent : And them by the name 
of the mayor, jurats and commonalty of the King's town 
and parish of Maidstone, in the county of Kent, we do 
really and fully, for us, our heirs and successors, erect, 
make, ordain, constitute, create, confirm and declare, by 
these presents, one body politick and corporate, in deed 
and in name ; and that by the same name they may have 
perpetual succession : And that they, by the name of the 
mayor, jurats and commonalty of the King's town and pa- 
rish of Maidstone, in the county of Kent, shall and may 
be at all times hereafter persons able and capable in the 
law, and a body politick and corporate, and qapable in 
the law to have, acquire, take, possess, enjoy and hold, 
lands, tenements, liberties, privileges, jurisdictions, fran- 
chises and hereditaments, of whatsoever kind, name, na- 
ture, quality or sort they may be, to them and their suc- 
cessors, in fee and perpetuity, or for term of life or years 
otherwise howsoever : And also goods and chattels, and 
whatsoever other things of whatsoever kind, name, na- 
ture, quality or sort they may be: And also to give, 
grant, demise, alien, assign and dispose of lands, tene- 
ments and hereditaments ; and to do and execute all and 
singular other acts and things by the name aforesaid : 
And that by the name of the mayor, jurats and com- 
monalty of the King's town and parish of Maidstone, in 
the county of Kent, they may plead and be impleaded, 
answer and be answered, defend and be defended, in 
whatsoever courts and places, and before whatsoever 
judges and justices, and other persons and officers of 



1747—21 GEORGE II. 193 

us, and of our heirs and successors, in all and sin- 
gular actions, pleas, suits, plaints, causes, matters 
and demands whatsoever, of whatsoever kind, name, 
nature, quality or sort they shall or may be, in the 
same manner and form as any other our liege people of 
our kingdom of Great Britain, persons able and capa- 
ble in the law, or any other body politick and corporate 
within our kingdom of Great Britain, may or may be able 
to have, acquire, take, possess, enjoy, hold, give, grant, 
demise, alien, assign and dispose, plead and be impleaded, 
answer and be answered, defend and be defended, do or 
execute. And that the mayor, jurats, and commonalty of 
the King's town and parish aforesaid, and their successors, 
may, for ever, have a common seal, to serve for transacting 
all the occasions and businesses of them and their suc- 
cessors : And that it shall and may be lawful for the said 
mayor, jurats and commonalty, and their successors, at 
their pleasure, from time to timeJHo break, change 
and new make that seal, as to them shall seem expedient. 
And further we will, and by these presents for us, our 
heirs and successors, do grant to the said mayor, ju- 
rats and commonalty of the King's town and parish of 
Maidstone, in the county of Kent, and their successors, 
that the said town and parish of Maidstone, and the li- 
berties and precincts of the same, from henceforth for 
ever shall be, may extend and reach, to take effect, as 
to all and singular things in these our present letters pa- 
tent contained and specified, to such and the like bounds, 
limits and boundaries, as they were used heretofore to 
reach and extend. And further we will, and by these 
presents, for us, our heirs and successors, do grant and 
ordain, that from henceforth for ever there shall and 
may be, within the town and parish aforesaid, thirteen 
of the inhabitants of the same town and parish to be 

o 



194 



1747—21 GEORGE II. 



Thirteen of 
the inhabi- 
tants to be 
chosen and 
called jurats, 
one whereof 
to be mayor. 



Duty of 
jurats. 



Forty of the 
remaining 
principal in- 
habitants to 
be chosen 
and called 
the common 
council. 



Power of 

making 

laws. 



chosen in the manner hereafter in these presents mentioned, 
who shall be and be called jurats of the said town and 
parish. And that there shall and may be likewise one 
of the same jurats to be chosen in the manner hereafter 
in these presents mentioned, who shall be and be called 
the mayor of the King's town and parish of Maidstone ; 
which said jurats, not being in the office of mayor of 
the town and parish aforesaid, shall be from time to 
time aiding and assisting unto the mayor of the said town 
and parish for the time being, in all causes and mat- 
ters touching or concerning the said town and parish. 
And that there shall and may be, forty of the remaining 
principal inhabitants of the same town and parish, to be 
chosen in the manner hereafter in these presents men- 
tioned, which shall be and be called the common coun- 
cil of the said town and parish : and further, we will, 
and by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, 
do grant unto the TcMyor, jurats, and commonalty of the 
King's town and parish aforesaid and their successors, 
that the mayor, jurats and common council of the town 
and parish aforesaid for the time being, upon public 
summons to be made thereof, being assembled for that 
purpose, shall and may have full power and authority of 
framing, appointing, ordering and making, whatsoever rea- 
sonable laws, statutes, constitutions, decrees and ordi- 
nances in writing, from time to time, w r hich to them, 
or the major part of them, (of whom the mayor of the 
said town and parish for the time being we will shall 
be one,) shall, according to their directions, seem to be 
good, wholesome, profitable, honest and necessary for 
the good order and government of the town and pa- 
rish aforesaid j and of all and singular officers, ministers, 
artificers, inhabitants and residents whatsoever, within the 
town and parish aforesaid, and the liberties of the same 



1747—21 GEORGE II. 195 

for the time being. And for the declaration in what 
manner and order they, the said 7nayor, jurats and com- 
monalty of the town and parish aforesaid, and all and 
singular officers, ministers, burgesses, artificers, inhabitants 
and residents of the said town and parish, shall behave 
themselves, have and use, in their offices, functions, mi- 
nistries, artifices and businesses, within the town and pa- 
rish aforesaid, and the liberties and precincts of the same, 
for the time being, for the further public good, common 
utility, and good government of the same town and pa- 
rish, and for the victualling of the same town and parish, 
and for other matters and things whatsoever in anywise 
touching or concerning the said town and parish. And 
that the mayor, jurats and common council of the town 
and parish aforesaid for the time being, or the major 
part of them, (of whom we will the said mayor of the 
town and parish aforesaid for the time being shall be 
one,) as often as they shall have made, framed, ordained, 
or established such laws, institutions, ordinances and 
constitutions, in manner aforesaid, may make, ordain, 
limit and provide such and the same punishments, pains 
and penalties, by fines or amerciaments, against and , 
upon all delinquents against such laws, ordinances and 
constitutions, or any or either of them, as and which to 
the said mayor, jurats and commonalty of the town and 
parish aforesaid for the time being, or the major part of 
them, (whereof the said mayor of the town and parish 
aforesaid for the time being we will shall be one,) shall 
seem best to them, to be necessary, fit and requisite, for 
the observance of the said laws, ordinances and constitu- 
tions. And may levy and have the same fines and amer- 
ciaments to the use of the said mayor, jurats and com- 
monalty of the town and parish aforesaid, and of their 
successors, without the hindrance of us, onr heirs or 

o 2 



196 1747—21 GEORGE II. 

successors, or of any officer or officers, minister or minis- 
ters of us, our heirs or successors, or without any ac- 
count to be given thereof to us, our heirs or successors. 
All and singular which laws, ordinances and constitu- 
tions, so as*aforesaid to be made, we will, for us, our heirs 
and successors, shall be observed under the penalties in 
the same to be contained ; so as nevertheless that such 
laws, ordinances and constitutions, fines and amercia- 
ments be reasonable, and be not repugnant nor contrary 
to the laws, statutes, customs or rights of our kingdom of 
Great Britain. And for the better execution of our will 
and grant in this behalf, we have appointed, named, 
created, constituted and made, and by these presents, for 
us, our heirs and successors, do appoint, name, create, 
constitute and make our well-beloved Edward Hunter, 
esquire, to be the first and modern mayor of the town 
and parish aforesaid ; willing that the said Edward Hunter 
shall be and continue in the office of mayor of the said 
town and parish from the date of the?e presents until 
the second day of November, commonly called the com- 
memoration of All- Souls, next ensuing, if the said Edward 
Hunter shall so long live. We have also appointed, 
named, created and constituted, and by these presents, 
for us, our heirs and successors, do appoint, name, create 
and constitute the said Edward Hunter and Joseph Smal- 
well, John Mason, Thomas Nightingale, Thomas Argles, 
John Harris, Richard Mussary, Stephen Page, George 
Curteis, John Rogers, Thomas Pope the younger, Jona- 
than Weldish, and Samuel Stevenson the younger, to be 
the first and modern thirteen jurats of the said town 
and parish, to continue in the same offices during their 
several natural Jives, unless they, or any or either of 
them, shall in the mean time be removed from those 
offices by the mayor, jurats and common council, dulv 



i 747—2 i GEORGE II. 197 

assembled, or the major part of them, for misgovern- 
ment or misbehaviour therein, or for any other reason- 
able cause. We have moreover appointed, named, 
created and constituted, and by these presents, for us, 
our heirs and successors, do appoint, name, create and 
constitute Roger Harris, Edward Argles, Thomas Has- 
sel, David Polhill, James Baxter, William Russell, Tho- 
mas Baytop, Richard Wottal the younger, Nicholas 
Rawlings, William Manser, John Rawlings, Robert Pine, 
William Purlis, William Borman, John Pope, Shaddrack 
Illden, Stephen Prentis, Samuel Stevenson the elder, 
William Davis, Richard Shepherd, Samuel Ellis the 
elder, William Foster, Edward Ellis, John Alexander, 
Thomas Wildes the elder, Henry Jefferys, William 
Stacey, George May, John Barnes, John Rudkin, Thomas 
Rhode, Tobias Hammond, Stephen Goffe, Thomas Ben- 
stead, Simon Goldwell, John Adams, Thomas Broom- 
field, John Reader, Thomas Wildes the younger, and 
Josiah Lane, to be the first and modern forty common 
councilmen of the said town and parish, to continue in 
the same office during their several natural lives, unless 
they, or any or either of them, shall in the mean 
time be removed from those offices by the mayor, ju- 
rats, and the rest of the common councilman, or the 
major part of them, duly assembled, for misgovemment or 
misbehaviour therein, or for any other reasonable cause. 
And further we will, and by these presents, for us, our 
heirs and successors, do give, grant, constitute and ordain, j ums> 
that as often as any of the jurats of the town and parish 
aforesaid for the time being shall happen to die, or be 
removed for any reasonable cause from his or their office 
or offices, that then it shall* and may be lawful to and 
for the said mayor, jurats and common council of the King's 
town and parish of Maidstone aforesaid, and their sue- 



19* 1747—21 GEORGE 11. 

eessors, from time to time duly assembled, or the ma- 
jority of them, henceforth to nominate and elect auy per- 
son or persons out of the common councilmen to be a 
jurat or jurats of the said town and parish. And if any 
person or persons to be nominated or elected, so as afore- 
said, into the office of jurat or jurats, shall refuse to take 
upon himself or themselves and execute that office and 
place, then we will, and for us, our heirs and successors, 
do grant to the said mayor and jurats and commonalty of 
the King's town and parish aforesaid, and their successors, 
that it shall and may be lawful to the said mayor, jurats 
and common council, and their successors, or the major 
part of them, for the time being, to impose and assess a 
reasonable fine or sum of money upon such person or per- 
sons so refusing the said office or place of jurat or jurats; 
and to levy the same fine or sum of money so assessed 
and imposed, by distress of the goods and chattels of the 
same person or persons so refusing, according to the laws 
and statutes of this our kingdom of Great Britain; and 
shall and may from time to time take, receive and retain 
the same to the proper use and behoof of the said mayor, 
in case of jurats and commonalty, and their successors. And fur- 
common ° ther we will, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and 
councilmen, successor * & o-rant and ordain, that as often as anv of 

other per- . 

sons to be the common councilmen shall happen to die, or be removed 
of the re- for any reasonable cause from his or their office or offices, 
priSi in- tnat tnen Jt sna11 anc * mav be lawful to and for the said 
habitants, mayor, jurats and commonalty of the King's town and 
parish of Maidstone aforesaid, and their successors, from 
time to time duly assembled, or the majority of them, 
henceforth to nominate and elect any person or persons out 
of the remaining pri?icipal inhabitants of the said town and 
parish, to be a common councilman or common council- 
men of the same town and parish. And that such person 



1747—21 GEORGE II. 199 

or persons hereafter to be nominated and elected, shall be 
a common councilman and common councilmen of the 
same town and parish, as any common councilman or 
common councilmen of the same town now is or are. 
And if any person or persons to be nominated or elected, 
so as aforesaid, into the office or place of common coun- 
cilman or common councilmen, shall refuse to take upon 
himself or themselves and execute that office and place, 
then we will, and for us, our heirs and successors, do 
grant unto the said mayor, jurats and commonalty of the 
King's town and parish aforesaid, and their successors, 
that it shall and may be lawful to the said mayor, jurats Penalty on 

, i • t • refusal. 

and common council, and their successors, or the major 
part of them for the time being, to impose and assess a 
reasonable fine or sum of money upon such person or persons 
so refusing the said office or place of common councilman or 
common councilmen, and to levy the said fine or sum of 
money so assessed and imposed, by distress of the goods 
and chattels of the said person or persons so refusing, ac- 
cording to the laws and statutes of this our kingdom of 
Great Britain ; and shall and may, from time to time, take, 
receive and retain the same, to the proper use and behoof 
of the said mayor, jurats and commonalty, and their suc- 
cessors. We will, moreover, that if a crime or other suf- 
ficient and notorious offence shall be found in any jurat or 
common councilman there for the time being, that then 
it shall and may be lawful to and for the said mayor and 
the rest of the jurats and common councilmen of the town 
and parish aforesaid, or the major part of them then pre- 
sent, being duly assembled, to remove and expel such 
jurat or common councilman from the office of jurat or 
common councilman of the town and parish aforesaid re- 
spectively. We will, moreover, and by these presents, 
for us, our heirs and successors, do grant to the said 



200 1/47—21 GEORGE IT. 

Court to as« mayor, jurats and commonalty of the King's town and 

semble on 

the 2d Nov. parish aforesaid, and their successors, that the jurats of 

twojuarTte" tne sa ^ town anc * P ar i sn > or tne major part of the said 
in order to jurats for the time being, may henceforth and for ever 

elect one J s ' d 

mayor. hereafter, from time to time, assemble every year on the 
said second day of November, commonly called the com- 
memoration of All- Souls, or if the said day shall happen 
to be on a Sunday, then the next day after, in any con- 
venient place within the said town of Maidstone ; and 
shall and may there nominate and appoint two men, then 
being jurats of the said town and parish, to the intent and 
purpose that the rest of the jurats and commonalty of the 
said town and parish being then there present, or the 
major part of them, may elect one out of those two, so to be 
nominated and appointed, to be the mayor of the town arid 
parish aforesaid for one whole year thence next following : 
and that after the said two men shall be nominated and 
appointed as aforesaid, it shall and may be lawful to the 
rest of the jurats and commonalty of the said town and 
parish, or the major part of them, to elect and prefer one 
of the same two men, so nominated and appointed, to be 
mayor of the town and parish aforesaid. And that he of 
the said two men, so chosen and preferred as aforesaid, 
before that he be admitted to the execution of the office 
aforesaid, shall take his corporal oath before the then last 
mayor, his predecessor, or, in his absence, before the hco 
senior jurats of the said town and parish aforesaid then 
present, for the true and faithful execution of his office 
of mayor of the town and parish aforesaid, in all things 
touching that office : and that after his having taken such 
oath as aforesaid, he may execute the office of mayor of 
the town and parish aforesaid for one whole year then 
next following the said election, if he shall so long live, 
unless he shall be in the mean time removed from the said 



1747—21 GEORGE II. 201 

office for some reasonable cause. And moreover we will, provision in 
and by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, do mayofdying 
grant to the said mayor, jurats and commonalty of the withinthe 
King's town and parish aforesaid, and their successors, 
that if it shall happen that the mayor of the town and 
parish aforesaid for the time being shall die or be re- 
moved from that office, at any time within one year after 
he shall be elected, sworn and preferred, so as aforesaid, 
to the office of mayor of the town and parish aforesaid, 
that then and so often it shall and may be lawful to the 
jurats and commonalty of the said town and parish, or the 
major part of them, to elect and prefer one of the two 
jurats to be nominated in manner aforesaid, by the jurats 
or the major part of them, to be mayor of the town and 
parish aforesaid ; at which respective nominations and 
elections the senior jurats then present shall preside. And 
that he who shall be so elected, preferred and nominated 
to the office of mayor of the town and parish aforesaid, 
having first taken his corporal oath, in the manner afore- 
said, may have and exercise the office of mayor of the 
town and parish aforesaid during the remainder of the 
same year, and so as often as the case shall so happen. 
And further we will, and by these presents, for us, our Power of 
heirs and successors, do grant to the said mayor, jurats cenaTncases 
and commonalty of the town and parish aforesaid, and t° appoint 

J * deputy. 

their successors, that if it shall happen that the mayor of 
the town and parish aforesaid for the time being shall 
be so afflicted with sickness that he shall not be able to 
attend the necessary business of the said town and parish, 
or shall be absent from the said town for some reasonable 
cause, that then and so often it shall and may be lawful 
for the mayor of the town and parish aforesaid for the 
time being to make, constitute and substitute, from time 
to time, one of the jurats of the town and parish aforesaid 



'202 1747—21 GEORGE 11. 

to be the deputy of him the said mayor for the time being, 
so afflicted with sickness, or absent for some reasonable 
cause, to continue in the game office of deputy of the 
mayor of the town and parish aforesaid, in the absence or 
sickness of the mayor of the town and parish aforesaid 
for the time being, during the pleasure of him the said 
mayor of the town and parish aforesaid for the time 
being ; which said deputy of the mayor of the town and 
parish aforesaid, so as aforesaid deputed and constituted 
deputy of the mayor of the town and parish aforesaid for 
the time being, may do and execute, during the pleasure of 
the mayor of thet own and parish aforesaid for the time be- 
ing, in the absence or sickness of* him the said mayor for 
the time being, all and singular the things which apper- 
tain and ought to belong to the office of mayor of the 
town and parish aforesaid to be done and executed within 
Power to the same town and parish. We will, moreover, and by 
corder, who these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, do grant 
mte "de-" anc * orc ^ am > tnat tne sa ^ mayor and jurats of the same 
P ut y- town and parish for the time being, and their successors, 

or the major part of them, may, from time to time here- 
after, nominate and elect one man, learned in the law of 
England, recorder of the King's town and parish aforesaid. 
And that he to be so nominated and elected shall and 
may be and be called recorder of the same town and 
parish, and may have and hold the same office or place 
of recorder during the pleasure of the said mayor and 
jurats for the time being, or the major part of them. 
And that it shall and may be lawful to and for the re- 
corder of the town and parish aforesaid for the time 
being to make, constitute and substitute one other per- 
son, learned in the law of England, to be deputy of him 
the said recorder for the time being ; to continue in the 
same office of deputy of the recorder of the town and 



1747 — -21 GEORGE II. 203 

parish aforesaid, during the pleasure of him the said re- 
corder of the town and parish aforesaid for the time be- 
ing; which deputy of the recorder of the said town and 
parish aforesaid, so as aforesaid to be deputed and con- 
stituted deputy of the recorder of the town and parish 
aforesaid for the time being, may do and execute, during 
the pleasure of the recorder of the town and parish afore- 
said for the time being, all and singular the things which 
appertain and ought to belong to the office of recorder 
of the town and parish aforesaid, to be done and executed 
within the same town and parish. And moreover we 
will, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and suc- 
cessors, do grant to the said mayor, jurats and common- 
alty of the King's town and parish aforesaid, and their 
successors, that from henceforth and for ever there shall 
and may be, in the town and parish aforesaid, one officer 
or two officers who shall be and be called sergeant or 
sergeants at mace, to serve in the court of the town and 
parish aforesaid, and for making proclamations, arrest- 
ing and executing of the processes, mandates and other 
affairs belonging to the office of sergeant at mace to be 
done and executed, from time to time, in the town and 
parish aforesaid, and the limits, bounds, and precincts of 
the same : which said sergeant or sergeants at mace, so to 
be appointed, nominated, and elected by the mayor of 
the town and parish aforesaid for the time being, shall 
be from time to time attendant upon the mayor of the 
town and parish aforesaid for the time being; and that 
the said sergeant or sergeants at mace, so as aforesaid to 
be elected and nominated, shall and may be in due man- 
ner sworn, before the mayor of the town and parish afore- 
said for the time being, for the true and faithful execution 
of his or their office aforesaid ; and that, after having 
taken such oath, he or they shall and may exercise and 



204 2 74/ — <>1 GEORGE If. 

execute that office during the pleasure of the mayor of 
the said town and parish for the time being. And fur- 
ther we will and ordain, and by these presents, for us, our 
heirs and successors, do grant to the said mayor, jurats 
and commonalty of the town and parish aforesaid, and 
their successors, that the said sergeants at mace to be de- 
puted in the town and parish aforesaid, shall bear or 
carry one or two gilt or silver maces, and engraved with 
the arms of us, our heirs and successors, every where 
w T ithin the said town and parish, and the precincts of the 
same, before the mayor of the town and parish aforesaid. 
The patents And whereas our royal ancestor, Elizabeth, heretofore 
granting ' Queen of England, by her letters patent under the great 
market, &c. sea i f England, bearing date at Westminster, the 4th day 
of December, in the second year of her reign, did, for her- 
self, her heirs and successors, among other things, gi'ant 
unto the may or, jurats and commonalty of the town and parish 
of Maidstone, in the county of Kent, and their successors, 
one market within the said town of Maidstone, in a certain 
place there called the Market-place, to be held and kept 
then after for ever on Thursday in every week, with all 
tolls, customs and other profits belonging to markets ; 
and also four fairs to be held and kept in the said town of 
Maidstone, in such places where the mayor of the same 
town and parish for the time being should appoint them 
to be held, by proclamation for that purpose made within 
the same town and parish, (to wit) one thereof to begin in 
every year then after at noon of the last day of April, and 
to last until noon of the second day of the month of May 
then next following ; another thereof to begin every year 
thereafter at noon of the eve of the feast of St. Edmund 
the King and Martyr, and to last until the noon of 
the morrow next following the day of the said feast 5 and 
another to besfin in everv vear thereafter for ever at noon 



1747—21 GEORGE II. 20a 

of the eve of the feast of St. Faith the Virgin, and to last 
until noon of the morrow next following the said feast 
day; and the other to begin every year thereafter at noon 
of the eve of the feast of the Purification of the blessed 
Virgin Mary, and to last until noon of the morrow next 
following the said feast day : and all and singular tolls, 
tributes, stallage, and other things whatsoever coming or 
growing from the said fairs or markets, and every of them, 
or by reason of the said fairs or markets, or either of 
them ; and a Pye Powder court to be held in the same 
fairs and markets, and every of them, and all fines, 
amerciaments, forfeitures, profits and emoluments coming, 
growing and arising, as well within the said Pye Powder 
court as by reason and occasion of the same, as by the 
said recited letters patent more fully and at large appear. 
And whereas also our royal predecessor, Kins 1 James /., betters pa- 

tent of King 

did afterwards, by his letters patent under the great seal James, re- 
of England, bearing date the thirty-first day of Decern- ma"k e n t s & c% 
ber, in the second year of his reign, regrant and confirm 
the said markets and fairs, and other the liberties and 
privileges before granted by the said recited letters patent 
of our royal predecessor, Queen Elizabeth, to the then 
mayor, jurats and commonalty of the town and parish of 
Maidstone aforesaid, and their successors, for the greater 
security of them, as by the said last recited letters patent 
may more fully appear. And whereas the said King Letterapa- 
James I, did afterwards, by other his letters patent, j a mes,ratu 
bearing date the twenty-eighth day of July, in the seven- £ y e ingmar " 
teenth year of his reign, for himself, his heirs and suc- 
cessors, ratify, approve and confirm to the said mayor, 
jurats and commonalty of the King's town and parish of 
Maidstone, in the county of Kent, and their successors, 
the aforesaid markets, fairs, courts of Pye Powder, tri- 
bute^ customs, tolls, stallages and profits, coming, grow- 



206 1747—21 GEORGE 11. 

ing and arising in the said markets, fairs and courts, or in 
anywise belonging or appertaining to the same. And the 
said King James I. did thereby, moreover, for the better 
security of the then mayor, jurats and commonalty, and 
their successors, of and in the premises, give and grant 
for himself, his heirs and successors, to the said mayor, 
jurats and commonalty, and their successors, the said 
markets, fairs, Pye Powder court, piccages, tributes, 
customs, tolls, stallages, and all and singular other pro- 
fits whatsoever in any manner belonging, appertaining, 
arising, growing or happening to the said markets, fairs, 
and Pye Powder courts. And that it should and might 
be lawful for the said mayor, jurats and commonalty, 
and their successors, (if they should think it expedient,) at 
their pleasure, from time to time, to extend the market 
aforesaid beyond the said place called the Market-place, 
or to hold and keep the same market in any other conve- 
nient place within the same town ; willing, and by the 
said last recited letters patent granting, for himself, his 
heirs and successors, to the said mayor, jurats and com- 
monalty of the King's town and parish of Maidstone 
aforesaid, and their successors, that they and their suc- 
cessors for ever hereafter should and might have, take, 
hold and enjoy, to their own proper use and behoof, in 
and from the said market and fairs, reasonable piccage 
money for the showing of goods and merchandizes there 
to be sold or exposed to sale, called show money, stallage, 
tributes, tolls, customs, commodities, profits, rights and 
jurisdictions, of whatsoever nature, kind or sort, in any 
wise belonging or appertaining to any markets or fairs, 
and in as ample manner and form as were then or had 
then been in anywise lawfully received, had or taken in 
the same, or in any other markets or fairs within any 
city, borough or town in the county of Kent, although 



1747—21 GEORGE II. 20 

the same profits were not named or declared particu- 
larly or by express names in those his letters patent, or 
in the said letters patent of Elizabeth Queen of England, 
as by the said letters patent of the seventeenth year of 
King James I. may more fully appear. Know ye, there- Confirma- 
fore, that we, willing to show further grace and favour to £* &™ ar 
the mayor, jurats and commonalty of the King's town 
and parish of Maidstone aforesaid, have ratified, approved 
and confirmed, and by these presents, for us, our heirs 
and successors, do ratify, approve and confirm, unto the 
said mayor, jurats and commonalty of the King's town 
and parish of Maidstone, in the county of Kent, and their 
successors, the aforesaid markets, fairs, Pye Powder 
courts, tributes, customs, tolls, stallages and profits, 
coming, growing and arising in the said markets, fairs and 
courts, in anywise belonging or appertaining to the same. 
And further, for the better security of the said now 
mayor, jurats and commonalty, and their successors, of 
and in the premises aforesaid, we have given and granted, 
and by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, 
do give and grant, unto the said mayor, jurats and com- 
monalty, and their successors, the said markets, fairs, 
Pye Powder courts, piccages, tributes, customs, tolls, 
stallages, and all and singular other profits whatsoever in 
any manner belonging, appertaining, arising, growing or 
happening to the said markets, fairs and Pye Powder 
courts. And that it shall and may be lawful for the said 
mayor, jurats and commonalty, and their successors, (if 
they shall think it expedient,) at their pleasures, from 
time to time, to extend the market aforesaid beyond the 
said place called the Market-place, or to hold and keep 
the same market in any other convenient place within 
the same town ; willing, and by these presents granting, 
for us, our heirs and successors, to the said mayor, jurats 



208 1747—21 GEORGE II. 

and commonalty of the King's town and parish of Maid- 
stone aforesaid, and their successors, that they and their 
successors for ever hereafter shall and may have, take, 
hold and enjoy, to their own proper use and behoof, in and 
from the said markets and fairs reasonable piccage money 
for the showing of goods and merchandizes there to be 
sold or exposed to sale, called show money, stallage, 
tributes, toils, customs, commodities, profits, rights, and 
jurisdictions of whatsoever nature, kjnd, or sort, in any- 
wise belonging or appertaining to any markets or fairs ; 
and in as ample manner and form as are or have been in 
anywise lawfully received, had or taken, in the same or 
• in any other markets or fairs within any city, borough or 
town, in the county of Kent, although the same profits are 
not named or declared particularly, or by express names, 
in these our letters patent, or in either of the letters 
Powertoad- patent before recited, or in any or either of them. We will, 
son as free'" moreove, "j ana " D y these presents, for us, our heirs and 
man. successors, do grant and ordain, that the said mayor, 

jurats and commonalty of the King's town and parish 
aforesaid for the time being, and their successors, or the 
major part of them, shall and may nominate, elect and ad- 
mit, any person or persons, being an inhabitant or not an 
inhabitant of the same Kings town and parish of Maidstone 
aforesaid, a freeman or freemen of the same town and 
parish. , And that he or they, so as aforesaid, hereafter to be 
nominated, elected or admitted, and he or they heretofore 
nominated, elected and admitted in any other manner as 
hath been heretofore accustomed in the same town, may be a 
freeman and freemen of the town and parish aforesaid, and 
so may be called and held during their natural lives, if they 
shall not be removed for any reasonable cause by the said 
mayor, jurats and commonalty, or the major part of them, 
far the time being. And we will that the recorder, depu- 



1747 — 21 GEORGE II. 209 

ty-recorder, jurats, common councilmen, and freemen,, 
so as aforesaid to be nominated, elected and admitted, 
from time to time, and every of them respectively, shall 
take their several oaths, upon the holy Evangelists, before 
the mayor and jurats for the time being, or the major 
part of them, (of whom we will the mayor for the time 
being to be one,) for the true and faithful execution of 
their several offices or places respectively, as the steward 
or recorder, jurats and freemen of the town and parish 
aforesaid have heretofore been used or accustomed. 
And whereas also the said Queen Elizabeth, by her said 
letters patent, did grant to the said mayor, jurats and 
commonalty, and their successors, full power and autho- 
rity to hold a court before the mayor of the town and 
parish aforesaid for the time being, in a convenient place 
within the town aforesaid, to be appointed by the mayor 
of the town and parish aforesaid for the time being, from 
fourteen days to fourteen days, on Tuesday : And in the 
same court to hold pleas, as well of assize of novel desei- 
sin, and whatsoever other pleas, actions, plaints and suits, 
in anywise concerning messuages, lands and tenements 
being within the town or parish of Maidstone aforesaid* 
as whatsoever actions, suits, plaints and demands, as well 
real and personal as mixt, happening, arising or grow- 
ing within the town and parish aforesaid, or either of 
them, although they should or should not exceed the sum 
of forty shillings. And the said late Queen Elizabeth did 
will, by her said letters patent, that the townand parish of 
Maidstone aforesaid, and the liberties of the same, should 
extend themselves by the water of Med way, from a cer- 
tain bridge called Eastfarleigh Bridge, unto a certain 
place called Hawk wood, as in the same letters patent 
more fully appears. And whereas the said water of Med- 
way, between the said bridge called Eastfarleigh Bridge 

p 



210 1747—21 GEORGE 11. 

and the place aforesaid called Hawk wood, flows by and 
through the town and parish of Maidstone aforesaid, and 
by and through the several towns of Eastfarleigh, Bar- 
minge, Looze, Boxley, Allington, and by certain streets 
called Milhale and Newhyth in the parish of East Mal- 
lynge in our county of Kent aforesaid : and the same town 
and parish of Maidstone aforesaid extends itself promis- 
cuously in, by and through the town of Looze aforesaid, 
and Linton in the county aforesaid, and beyond and also 
by the said towns of Eastfarleigh, Barminge and Boxley, 
and by the town of Otham in our county of Kent afore- 
said, as we have had certain information thereof. We 
now intending to put into certainty, and limit unto what 
parishes, towns, hamlets and streets, and how and how 
far the liberties and jurisdictions of the mayor, jurats and 
commonalty of the King's town and parish of Maidstone 
aforesaid should reach and extend themselves, as to the 
hearing and determining pleas in their court aforesaid; we 
will, and by these presents, for us, our heirs and succes- 
sors, of our like especial grace, certain knowledge and 
mere motion, do grant, ordain and declare, that the liber- 
ties of the King's town and parish of Maidstone aforesaid, 
and also the jurisdictions of the mayor, jurats and com- 
monalty of the same town and parish, and their successors, 
for the future, may extend and reach, and henceforth 
may be had and reputed and adjudged so to extend and 
reach, only as to the cognizance and determination before 
the said mayor for the time being, and his successors, of 
all and all manner of actions, personal and mixt, and of 
granting replevins, (and to no other intents, constructions 
and purposes,) into, by and through the aforesaid towns 
and parishes of Eastfarleigh, Barmynge, Looze, Boxley, 
Allington, Milhale, Newhyth, Linton and Otham, al- 
though the actions aforesaid, or any or either of them, 



1747—21 GEORGE II. 211 

may or may not exceed the sum of forty shillings ; so as 
that nevertheless such cognizance and termination of ac- 
tions, personal and mixt, and replevins aforesaid, arising 
within the town and places aforesaid, granted and con- 
firmed by these presents to the same mayor, jurats and 
commonalty, be not to the damage or prejudice of the 
jurisdictions, customs, liberties or privileges of any other 
of our subjects, there to be had, or lawfully claiming any 
thing in that behalf. And that for the better execution of 
the same actions, personal and mixt, and replevins, it shall 
and may be lawful for the said mayor for the time being 
to make and execute attachments, and all other legal 
processes and executions, into and through the aforesaid 
parishes, towns, streets and hamlets ofEastfarleigh, Bar- 
minge, Looze, Boxley, Allington, Millhale, Newhyth, 
Linton and Otham, by the sergeant or sergeants at mace, 
or by other person or persons to be nominated and appoint- 
ed by him the said mayor for the time being, as the law 
requires in that behalf. And whereas the said late Queen Inhabitants 
Elizabeth, by her said letters patent, did grant to the same f rom serving 
mayor, jurats and commonalty, and their successors, that on J unes# 
they and every inhabitant of the same town and parish, from 
thenceforth for ever, should be exempted and exonerated 
from all and all manner of juries and inquisitions to be 
returned, had or taken before whatsoever justices of the 
same late Queen, her heirs or successors, except in the 
said town of Maidstone, although the said Queen, her 
heirs or successors, should be parties in the same juries 
or inquisitions. We also, for the better certainty of 
the exemptions of the inhabitants of the town and 
parish from the juries and inquisitions aforesaid, of our 
like especial grace, and of our certain knowledge and 
mere motion, for us, our heirs and successors, do will, 
grant and declare, by these presents, that the said mayor, 

p 2 



212 1747—21 GEORGE II. 

jurats and commonalty of the King's town and parish 
aforesaid, and their successors, and every inhabitant from 
time to time of the same King's town and parish, or any 
or either of them, shall not be put or impanelled on any 
juries or inquisitions to be taken before the justices of us, 
our heirs or successors, to hear and determine felonies, 
trespasses, and other misdemeanors in the county afore- 
said, or before the justices of us, our heirs or successors, 
of Nisi Prim, or of gaol delivery in the county of Kent 
aforesaid, or before the escheators, and other commis- 
sioners or ministers of us, our heirs and successors, with- 
out the town and parish of Maidstone aforesaid. And that 
the sheriff of our county of Kent aforesaid for the time 
being doth not put or impannel, nor shall cause to be 
put or impannelled, the said mayor, jurats and commonalty, 
and their successors, or any inhabitants of the same town of 
Maidstone, on such juries and inquisitions to be taken, as 
aforesaid, without thetow T nand parish aforesaid. And more- 
over we, for the better preserving and keeping the said town 
and parish of Maidstone, and the inhabitants of the same, 
in peace and good government, of our especial grace, cer- 
tain knowledge and mere motion, for us, our heirs and 
successors, have w T illed, granted and ordained, and by 
these presents do will, grant, and ordain, that the mayor 
and recorder of the town and parish of Maidstone aforesaid 
for the time being, and three of the most ancient in the de- 
gree and order of jurats in the same town and parish for 
the time being, and every of them, and their successors, 
so long as they shall have and hold their offices or places 
respectively, shall and may be, and every of them shall 
and may be, a justice and justices of us, our heirs and suc- 
cessors, to preserve the peace of us, our heirs and succes- 
sors, within the town and parish aforesaid, and to do, per- 
form and execute all and singular matters and things 



1747—21 GEORGE IL 213 

which belong to the office of a justice of the peace of us, 
our heirs and successors, in as ample manner as other 
justices of the peace of our county of Kent have been ac- 
customed to do and execute. And that no justice of the 
peace of the county of Kent aforesaid do in anywise inter- 
meddle within the said town and parish of Maidstone, to 
do any thing which thereto belongeth or appertained to 
the office of the justice of the peace. Which said mayor, 
recorder, and three of the most ancient jurats of the town 
and parish aforesaid for the time being, nominated so as 
aforesaid to be justices of the peace, and every of them, 
shall take their corporal oaths upon the holy Evangelists, 
for the faithful doing and executing the office or place of 
justices of the peace there, before the rest of the jurats 
then for the time being. And that the said mayor^ re- 
corder, and three of the most ancient jurats of the town 
and parish aforesaid, as aforesaid, for the time being, and 
their successors, or any three of them, (of whom the 
mayor and recorder of the town and parish aforesaid for 
the time being we will shall be two,) shall and may have, 
from henceforth for ever, full power and authority to 
inquire, hear and determine all and singular trespasses 
and misdemeanors of whatsoever kind, nature or sort, 
arising within the town and parish aforesaid, as justices 
of the peace in the county of Kent, two or more of them 
may or can, do, act or perform, as well in as out of their 
sessions, by virtue of our commission or commissions to 
them made for that purpose ; so as that nevertheless they 
do in nowise proceed to the determining of any treason 
or felony, or any other offence touching the loss of life or 
members, without the special mandate of us, our heirs or 
successors, in that behalf. And that the said mayor, 
jurats and commonalty of the town and parish aforesaid, 
and their successors, mav have, take and receive, to their 



<214 1747— -21 GEORGE II. 

own proper use, all and singular fines, forfeitures and 
issues of jurors for their non-appearance; and also fines 
and forfeitures, for trespasses, and other misdemeanors 
and contempts, before the said mayor, recorder and three 
jurats, justices of the peace, or three of them, as aforesaid, 
from time to time happening, growing, or arising within 
the town and parish aforesaid. And further, of our like 
especial grace, certain knowledge and mere motion, we 
have willed, given and granted, and by these presents, 
for us, our heirs and successors, do will, give and grant 
to the said mayor, jurats and commonalty of the town 
and parish aforesaid, and their successors, that the said 
Edward Hunter, and every mayor of the town and parish 
aforesaid from henceforth happening, during the time of 
his mayoralty, shall and |may be the coroner of us, our 
heirs and successors, in and through the town and parish 
of Maidstone aforesaid. And that he by himself, or by 
his sufficient deputy, to be nominated or deputed in that 
behalf under the seal of the said mayor, shall and may do 
and perform all and singular things within the said town 
and parish aforesaid which belong or appertain to the 
office of coroner, in as ample manner and form as any 
coroner of any county of that part of our kingdom of 
Great Britain called England, or of any liberty within 
those liberties may, ought, or can lawfully inquire, act, 
do, execute or fulfil ; the said Edward Hunter, and every 
future mayor, first taking his corporal oath for the good 
and faithful execution of that office in this behalf; that is 
to say, the said Edward Hunter, before two or more of the 
said persons whom we have hereby appointed jurats ; and 
every future mayor, before the last mayor, his predecessor, 
or his deputy ; or in case of the death or removal of the 
last preceding mayor, then before two or more of the 
jurats for the time being. To which said last mayor, and 



1747—21 GEORGE II. 215 

his successors, and their respective deputies, and the said 
jurats, from time to time, we do by these presents, for us, 
our heirs and successors, give and grant full power and 
authority to administer such oath; and that no other co- 
roner of our county of Kent aforesaid do hereafter enter 
within the town and parish of Maidstone aforesaid, to do 
any thing which belongs or appertains to the office of co- 
roner. And further, we, of our especiargrace, certain 
knowledge and mere motion, have given, granted and 
confirmed, and by these presents, for us, our heirs, and 
successors, do give, grant and confirm, unto the said 
mayor, jurats and commonalty of the town and parish of 
Maidstone aforesaid, and their successors, to their own 
proper use and behoof, all and singular goods and chattels, 
waifes, estreats, fines, forfeitures and other profits and 
emoluments, heretofore given and granted to the said 
mayor, jurats and commonalty, and their successors, by 
the said recited letters patent of Queen Elizabeth, and 
also the goods and chattels of felons and fugitives out- 
lawed or put in exigent, hereafter happening, growing, 
or arising, by water or by land, within the town and 
parish aforesaid. And that the mayor of the town and 
parish aforesaid for the time being, and his successors, 
shall and may have, from time to time, return of all and 
singular writs, mandates, and precepts of us, our heirs 
and successors, within the said town and parish aforesaid, 
hereafter to be made and executed, so that our sheriff, 
coroner, or escheator, in the county of Kent, or other 
ministers of us, our heirs or successors, or any of them 
respectively, do in nowise intermeddle himself, or them- 
selves, to act or do any thing in the premises within the 
town and parish aforesaid. We will, moreover, and by 
these presents, of our especial grace, certain knowledge 
and mere motion, do, for us, our heirs and successors, 



216 1747—21 GEORGE II. 

grant unto the said mayor, jurats and commonalty, 
and their successors, that they shall and may have, take 
and enjoy, to their own proper use and behoof, wharfage, 
anchorage, and ground age, of all and singular ships and 
other vessels, of whatsoever kind or burden, coming to 
the said town and parish of Maidstone ; and reasonable 
wages and fees for lading and unlading of merchandises, 
goods and chattels, in the said ships or vessels, there to 
be laded or unladed, into or out of the said ships or ves- 
sels. And that also the said mayor or jurats and com- 
monalty, and their successors, may likewise have, through 
the water aforesaid, from the aforesaid bridge called 
Eastfarleigh Bridge unto Hawkwood, the liberty or 
privilege of keeping and 'preserving swans and cygnets, 
and a swan-mark for the same ; and to change and, alter 
that swan-mark at their pleasure. And also all and 
singular swans and cygnets through the water afore- 
said, or within the bounds and limits aforesaid, and 
the banks and ground of the same, building nests, 
breeding, or frequenting, and not legally marked or 
noted, with the swan- mark aforesaid to mark and note. 
And full power and authority to pursue, retake, bring 
hack and have again, the swans and cygnets aforesaid, 
swimming or wandering by water and land out of the 
limits and bounds aforesaid, without the hindrance of us, 
our heirs or successors, or of any other our officers or 
ministers, or of any other persons whatsoever. We grant, 
moreover, for us, our heirs and successors, unto the said 
mayor, jurats and commonalty of the town and pa- 
rish of Maidstone aforesaid, and their successors, that they, 
or the major part of them, for the better support of the 
charges of the town and parish aforesaid, or for other 
reasonable causes or respects, or for the publick good and 
benefit of that town and parish, and of the inhabitants 



1747—21 GEORGE II. 217 

thereof, shall and may lawfully, from time to time, make, 
impose, and assess, reasonable taxes and assessments, in 
reasonable sums of money, upon themselves and every in- 
habitant there; and may have, take and levy the same by 
distress, or in any other legal manner, as they have here- 
tofore been used and accustomed. We will, moreover, 
and by these presents, for us, our heirs and successors, do 
grant and confirm unto the said mayor, jurats and com- 
monalty of the King's town and parish aforesaid, and their 
successors, that they and their successors shall and may 
have, hold, enjoy and use, from henceforth for ever, all 
and singular such lands, tenements, hereditaments, goods 
and chattels, liberties, powers, authorities, franchises, immu- 
nities, indemnities, and free customs, as the said town and 
parish of Maidstone, or the said late mayor, jurats and 
commonalty of the said town before the said dissolution, 
or their predecessors, have lawfully had/ held or enjoyed, 
by virtue of any charters or letters patent by us, or by any of 
our progenitors heretofore Kings or Queens of England, 
or otherwise by any lawful means, right or title whatever, 
although the said franchises, liberties, immunities and 
free customs have not been heretofore used, or, it 
may be, abused, by them or their predecessors, and 
although some of them are, and others are not particularly 
enumerated herein. And further we will, and by these 
presents, for us, our heirs and successors, of our especial 
grace, certain knowledge and mere motion, do grant unto 
the said mayor, jurats and commonalty, and their suc- 
cessors, that these our letters patent, and all and singu- 
lar things in the same contained, shall be and remain 
from time to time good,, firm, valid, sufficient and effec- 
tual in the law, according to the true meaning of these 
presents, notwithstanding the not naming, or the not 
right and certain naming, the premises aforesaid, or any 



218 1747 — 21 GEORGE If. 

parcel thereof, in their or either of their proper natures, 
kinds, sorts, quantities or qualities. And notwithstanding 
the not reciting, or not truly reciting, the said several let- 
ters patent beforementioned, or any thing in the same 
contained, or any act, ordinance, provision, or restriction, 
or any defect, uncertainty or imperfection in these our 
letters patent, or any other matter, cause or thing what- 
soever to the contrary thereof in anywise notwithstanding: 
we will also, and by these presents do grant, to the said 
mayor, jurats and commonalty of the town and parish 
aforesaid, that they shall and may have these our letters 
patent, made and sealed in due manner under our great 
seal of Great Britain, without any fine or fee, great or 
small, to be therefore in anywise rendered, paid or done 
to us in our Hanaper, or elsewhere to our use, although 
express mention be not made in these presents of the 
true yearly value or certainty of the premises, or of any of 
them, or of any gifts or grants heretofore made by us, or 
by any of our ancestors or progenitors, to the said mayor, 
jurats and commonalty of the town and parish aforesaid, 
or any ordinance, provision, proclamation, restriction to 
the contrary thereof heretofore had, made, issued, or- 
dained, or provided, or any other matter, cause or thing 
whatsoever in anywise notwithstanding. In witness 
whereof we have caused these our letters to be made 
patent. Witness ourself, at Westminster, the seventeenth 
day of June, in the 21st year of our reign. 

By writ of privy seal. 
Cocks. 



The admissions of freemen which have taken place 
since the granting of this charter, as well as the other 
entries extracted from the books, support the construc- 
tion of it we have already given. 



1747 — 21 GEORGE II. 21D 

Tims, there is an order, of this date, that none but 1747 — 
freemen shall exercise any trade within the town. It is Aug. 4? ' 
as follows : — 

" At a court of burghmote, held on Tuesday the 4th 

" August 1747. Edward Hunter, esq. mayor, (be- 

" ing the second court after the grant of the char- 

" ter,) thirteen jurats and thirty common council 

" appearing. It is ordered, that none but freemen 

" shall exercise any trade within the town according 

" to ancient usage." 

This entry appears to raise the same inference ; for the 

proper rule of construction is, so to take the words, that 

they may be legal and avail, rather than they should be 

illegal and void. 

If the word "freemen" here used is not taken to in- 
clude all the inhabitants, then the effect of the order 
would be to prevent a person from trading in the , 
place where he lives, which would be a bye-law in re- 
straint of trade> and void, as well as against reason 
and common sense. See the Merchant Taylors' case, 
11 Co. 8, 53. and Lutw. 564. 

It is therefore conceived that the word "freeman" in 
this order, must be taken to include all the inhabitants. 

The admissions of Davis and Goff, as foreigners, appear 
also to confirm the view taken before of the clauses in the 
charters of 17 Jam. I. and 21 Geo. II. as to the admission 
of freemen ; for they, as well as others in the same year 
and in the succeeding years, are admitted as "foreigners " 
and paid a fine on their admission. Now, there is no 
doubt, that the term foreigner means a person who had 
not before resided in the place ; and these, therefore, are 
the persons described in the clauses as non-inhabitants ; 
and (as has been observed before) coming to the town, 
not being inhabitants there, under the law as to vagran- 



220 1747—21 GEORGE II. 

cy, the inhabitants of the place might send them away, 
and refuse to admit them ; but if they received them, and 
allowed them to share their privileges, it was but reason- 
able they should pay a sum of money to secure the other 
inhabitants against the risk they ran of their after- 
wards being burdensome to the town, or of the town be- 
ing responsible for their acts ; and also because they 
were admitted to share their privileges, which is but 
reasonable, as stated in the case of the corporation of 
Colchester against Godwin. Cooke's Reports, 114. 

The following are copies of these Entries : — 
" At this court, (4th August, 1747,) came William 
" Davis, distiller, and desired to be made free, and 
" hath put himself upon his foreigner's fine, and this 
" court hath set the same at 20/., which he hath ac- 
" cepted of, and paid down the same, and hath taken 
" his freeman's oath, and other oaths, and he is made 
" free." 
The admission of Stephen Goffe, glazier, is under the 
same circumstances ; James Gatfield, by his father's copy; 
Isaac Dawson, apprentice. 

" Maidstone.— Court, &c, held 28th Sept. 1747. 
" Thomas Read, paid foreigner's fine, 20/. ~> 
" William Stone, do. I were made 

« Robert Read, do. 15/. f free." 

" James Snow, do. 20/. J 

In the following month a court of burghmote was held, 
and amongst the proceedings minuted thereat is the fol- 
lowing entry: — 

" Maidstone. — Court of burghmote, 30th October, 1747- — 
" Ordered that the opinion of counsel be taken upon 
" the charter, whether all the inhabitants of the said 
" town and parish are freemen or not by the new 



22 Geo. II. 



1748—22 GEORGE II. 221 

" charter, and that the chamberlain do pay the ex- 
- " pense thereof."' 
" At the same court Edward Blundell appeared and 
" prayed to be made free, he put himself upon his 
" foreigner's fine, which was assessed at 15/.; he paid 
" 10L, gave security for ol., and took the oaths, &c. 
« William Filby the like, fine 20Z." 
In the following- year, Richardson, Torriano, and alto- ms— 
gether forty-four others, and in 1/53 one other, and in 
1761 another, all described " of the town and parish/' 
(which seems clearly to mean inhabitants of the town and 
parish, and that meaning is necessary to give them a title 
to be admitted into the corporation,) came and desired to 
be made free, expressly by virtue of the charter 
lately granted; and they are admitted accordingly, 
without paying any fine. It is therefore clear that they are 
admitted by right, according to the charter, and not by 
any favour of the corporation ; and these are the persons 
admitted under the word " inhabitants," in the clauses be- 
fore referred to. 

Now as they are admitted expressly by virtue of the 
charter of George II., and as there is no pretence for say- 
ing that that charter introduced any new mode of creat- 
ing freemen, the consequence is, that this mode of admit- 
ting inhabitants by right, and non-inhabitants or foreigners 
by purchase, or on payment of a fine, is (as was also ap- 
parent from all the former documents, as they have oc- 
curred in their order,) the ancient and. uniform mode of ad- 
mitting freemen in tins town, as well by charier as by 
usage. 

It has been seen also that some were admitted, during 
the same time, by their fathers' copy, and others on the 
ground of their having been apprentices. 

The corporation do not pretend but that the sons of 



222 1748—22 GEORGE II. 

freemen and apprentices have an absolute right; or, in the 
modern law language on this subject, an inchoate right to 
admission ; if so, it is impossible for them to show any 
reason, either from law or history, why those persons 
should have any greater right to claim admission than 
uny other inhabitants of the town ; they may indeed have 
a prompter right to admission, which will be explained 
hereafter, but no different right. 

We are aware that the general opinion is otherwise, 
and that it is ordinarily assumed that the right by birth 
and apprenticeship are purely corporate rights : but we 
believe it to be a totally unfounded error. It has never 
been suggested on what law or charter this species of 
corporate right is founded, and it is too much to require 
that it should be assumed to be a corporate right, with- 
out any foundation laid for it : particularly if any other 
foundation for it can be ascertained with tolerable cer- 
tainty, — the early common law to which we have before al- 
luded, readily affords that foundation. Persons were made 
Freedom by of free condition, that is, liberi homines, by birth; for as 
b the corporation are by law presumed to be conversant of 

the members of their body ; and all who have been ad- 
mitted as members ought to be free, it follows that they 
are bound to know the children of freemen, who are by 
birth free, and consequently such children are entitled to 
claim from the corporation immediate recognition and 
admission as freemen. 
Apprentices. Apprentices were by the law to be enrolled before the 
mayor ; consequently the corporation were aware of their 
being apprentices ; and they were to be bound for seven 
years, from which it is clear that an apprentice must be 
with his master, before his time expires, for more than a 
year 5 which, it will be remembered, is by law, as stated by 
Glanville, sufficient to entitle a man to be free^ if he has 



1748—22 GEORGE II. 223 

lived that time away from his lord, and is not reclaimed 
by him. 

Apprenticeship was clearly distinguishable from the 
servitude of a villein to his lord, and inconsistent with it : 
and consequently whenever an apprentice was out of his 
time, it was clear that he had lived more than a year free 
from the service of any lord ; and as this must be, for 
the reason stated above, with the knowledge of the cor- 
poration, they were bound instantly to admit him, as by 
right, a freeman. 

The other inhabitants were not ail immediately enti- 
tled to be admitted ; they might or might not be free, till 
they had lived a year in the place, it did not follow neces- 
sarily that they were free ; and therefore the corporation 
were not bound to admit them : but when a person had 
resided in a place more than three nights, notice of his 
being there was to be given, by the common law, to the 
constable, tithingman, or head officer; and after forty 
days the party was bound to present himself to the tithing 
man ; and, at the next town or court leet, he was to be 
enrolled amongst the inhabitants of the place, and sworn, 
if he was a freeman; which, however, would continue in 
doubt till the expiration of a year and a day : if after 
that time he was not claimed by any lord, he became free ; 
and in consequence of his being a free inhabitant of the 
place, he was by law bound to be sworn and enrolled as a 
free inhabitant, and to take upon himself all the liabili- 
ties and burdens consequent thereon ; and of course he 
was to share the privileges of the place : and this ex- 
plains the distinction which is to be found in the usage of 
many places as to the peremptory right by birth and ap- 
prenticeship, contradistinguished from the right of inha- 
bitants generally. 

From these facts, to be found in the history and prac- 



224 1748—22 GEORGE II. 

tice of our early law, it cannot but be seen how reasonable an 
origin it affords for the usage, as to the admission of free-j 
men, which has existed in so many boroughs and towns : 
and on the other hand, it will be seen how futile the prevail- 
ing prejudice is, that it has originated in any peculiar law 
or privilege of corporations : particularly when it is re- 
membered, that none of the early charters contain any 
provision for the admission of freemen ; and that the 
usages, as to admissions, which existed for centuries be- 
fore any charter introduced any provision for it, can be 
, traced to no other source but the common law. 

Again : — it cannot but be seen how the circumstances 
mentioned above correspond with the history and prac- 
tice of most boroughs : and particularly in this case how 
it reconciles all the charters and documents to themselves, 
and to reason and law. 

It must be apparent also, how this view of the subject 
falls in with the general law, and makes all the charters 
granted to the inhabitants consistent (as they must be 
supposed to be) with the common law : for the whole 
subject resolves itself into the same question which is 
now so constantly agitated in the application of the poor 
laws. Who is a corporator under a charter of incorpora- 
tion of inhabitants ? is precisely the same question as Who 
is entitled to relief as a poor inhabitant? We use, it is 
true, now, since the statute of the 13th and 14th Car. II. 
the term " settled " poor ; but the real question in settle- 
ment law is, Where was the person last a settled and fixed 
inhabitant ? Every person quitting the place in which he 
was enrolled and sworn as a fixed inhabitant was for- 
merly, as he is now, in a state of vagrancy until he be- 
come a fixed inhabitant in some other place. And there- 
fore the question, as to inhabitancy, always was, and still 
is, in what place a person, if he is rich, is bound to bear 



174S — 22 GEORGE II, 225 

the burthens of local habitation.; and in what place, 
if he is poor, he is entitled to be supported and main- 
tained. 

The entries above noticed are made at a court of 
burghmote, held this day, as is stated, by adjournment. 1784— 
There appear to have been present at the court, Joseph une ' 
Smalvill, esq. the mayor, eight jurats and thirty-four 
common councilmen. 

" William Richardson of this town and parish, gentleman, 
" came and desired to be made free, by virtue of the 
" charter lately granted by his present Majesty to 
" this town and parish ; and he is allowed the same, 
" and hath taken his freeman's oath, and the other 
" oaths, and he is made free. 
*'. George Torriano, of this town and parish, gentleman, 
"" came mid desired to be made free, by virtue of the 
" charter, (as in the last entry,) and he is made 
"free/' 

James Seale, yeoman, 
Robert Hartridge, yeoman, 
John Bos well, victualler, 
John Broomfield, bargeman, 
Edward Chambers, yeoman, 
Thomas Lomas, 
William Ashdown, victualler, 
Stephen Otway, esquire, 
James Wilson, 
Thomas Pine, paper- maker, 
And in all about thirty more, all described of the town 
and parish of Maidstone, are made free under the like cir - 
cum stances. 

" Maidstone. — Court of burghmote, held before the 174&— 
ff mayor, nine jurats and thirty-two common coun- 0ct< 11# 
" cilmen, Deodatus Bye, of this town and parish, clerk, 

Q 



226 1748—22 GEORGE II. 

" came and desired to be made free by virtue of the 
" charter lately granted, &c, and he is made free." 
" Robert Pugh, 
" Aaron Clayton, 
" William Tempest, gentleman, (and about twenty 
" more,) all of the town and parish, are made free 
" under like circumstances." 
The above named Deodatus Bye was, at the period of 
his admission, master of the grammar school; and it seems 
quite clear that the application for, and grant of the ad- 
missions at these two courts were in virtue of inhabitancy 
only. 
1753— At a court of burghmote. 

" JohnBarden, of this town and parish, labourer, came and 
" desired to be made free by virtue of the charter, 
" and he is allowed the same, and is made free." 
At the same court, several apprentices and sons of 
freemen were admitted as usual. 
1761— At a court of burghmote. 

Aug. 31. {( ^ t t jjj s cour t came Peter Athawes and desired to be made 
"free, and hath put himself upon his foreigner's fine, 
" and the court set the same at e£15, which he paid, 
" and was made free." 
" John Town, 
" Thomas Adgate, 
Upon the subject of the admission of foreigners enough 
has already been said, and our observations need not be 
here repeated. 
1761— " At a court of burghmote.— George Post, esquire, mayor, 
" seven jurats and twenty common councilmen and 
" many of the commonalty present. 
■" Barnard Crouch, of this town, came and desired to be 
(i made free, by virtue of the charter — he is allowed 
" the same— taken the oaths, and is made free." 



the like. 



1761—1 GEORGE III. 227 

This admission being similar to those in 1748, it be- 
comes unnecessary to observe upon it, further than that 
therefrom it may be gathered that the inhabitants of the 
town, as such, considered themselves at that time entitled 
to be admitted to the privileges of the place, and that 
they were not denied them. 

It is understood, that about fifty years ago, the corpora- 
tion passed a bye-law for the purpose of preventing the 
sale of the freedom of the town : an act in every respect 
fit and proper to be done ; the sale of the freedom being 
clearly an improper exercise of the discretion as to 
strangers or foreigners, vested originally in the corpora- 
tion.by the common law, and afterwards expressly recog- 
nised by the charter of 17th James I. and that of the 
21st Gfco. II. as to the admission of freemen; both of 
which, strictly speaking, were declaratory of the common 
law ; which, in point of fact, gave to the corporation a 
general discretion as to the admission or amotion of the 
persons who were to share the privileges with them ; as 
to foreigners, an unlimited discretion to prevent their 
coming to reside there, if they thought fit ; as to inha- 
bitants, a discretion only to reject, of those who were 
free, such as for any crime were, in contemplation of law, 
infamous. 

In the exercise of that discretion, they were bound by 
the rules of law ; and if they improperly excluded a per- 
son without sufficient cause, (which was to be judged of by 
the Court of King's Bench,) they could be compelled to 
admit them by mandamus ; because it was as much the 
duty of the corporation to admit, as it was the obligation 
of the individual to be admitted ; and as much for the 
advantage of the public as of the individual, that he should 
be enrolled and sworn. 

As to the qualifications of birth and apprenticeship, be r 

ft 2 



228 1766-6 GEORGE III. 

fore alluded to, we have already observed upon them ; and 
the admission by the corporation, that those claiming by 
birth and apprenticeship have a title to be admitted, is in 
effect an admission that every free inhabitant householder 
has also the same right : and since the time of James I. (in 

SeeNov.21. the 15th year of whose reign, the last claim of villeinage 
was made) the term free inhabitant householders in fact in- 
cludes all inhabitant householders ; and it should be re- 
membered, that there is not in this charter any provision 
requiring these qualifications : they must be added from 
some other source ; if from the common law, then they 
must be explained by the law ; if not from the common 
law, then they are illegal, as being qualifications not im- 
posed by the charter. See per Mr. Justice Yates, 3 Burr. 
182/, in Rex v. Spenser. 

1766— The above cited case of the King v. Spenser remains to 

be considered. It was a rule for leave to file a criminal 
information, in the nature of quo warranto, against the de- 
fendant as a common councilman of Maidstone; it had 
been obtained in the preceding year, and the matter came 
before the Court on a rule for arresting the judgment for 
the defendant, and enteriug the judgment for the King, 
notwithstanding the verdict for the defendant. The ques- 
tion was as to the validity of the bye-law under which th* 
defendant claimed to have been elected; and which was 
objected to, on the ground that it restrained and narrowed 
the number of electors, without any authority from the 
charter, and even contrary to it; and without the con- 
sent of the electors took away their rights, and is vague, 
indefinite and uncertain. 

The bye-law was made by the mayor, jurats and com- 
monalty ; and, on the common pretence of avoiding po- 
pular confusion, provided that the election of common 
eouncnlmen should f be by the mayor, jurats and common 



1823—4 GEORGE IV. 229 

council, and such of the common freemen only as had 
served parish offices. The charter directed that the 
election should be by the mayor, jurats and commonalty : 
and the Court held that the bye-law was had, as restrain- 
ing the number of electors, so as to exclude altogether an 
integral part of the corporation, and including a qualifi- 
cation quite different from any in the charter. 

From this case, as well as from the former proceedings 
iu quo warranto, it is quite obvious, that the select body of 
the corporation, as well before the granting of the charter 
of Geo. II. as subsequently, resorted to every expedient, 
whether legal or not, to support and Increase their own 
power, and never relinquished any part even of their 
usurpations without a struggle. 

It would be as uninteresting as useless to trace the pro- 
ceedings of the corporation from 1766 to the present 
time: the system has been uniformly corrupt and op- 
pressive, and the same complaints that were made up- 
wards of half a century ago, continue to be made at the 
present day ; and it is feared that the ruling powers of the 
town have as little inclination to afford redress for the 
grievances of which the majority of the inhabitant house- 
holders complain, now, as they evinced at that time. 

It may, however, be proper to state that, in 1822, a 
great portion of the respectable inhabitants of the town, 
looking at the early charters and those granted in more 
recent times, and considering their claim to the munici- 
pal and elective franchises of the place to be indisputable, 
they determined on boldly demanding a restitution of 
their rights. With this view, and with this determina- 
tion, they gave notice to the mayor and town-clerk, that 
they should attend at the next court of burghmote, and 
make their claim accordingly. 

At the burehmote then held, tliev attended accord- * 823 ~", 

° " November. 



$30 1823-r4GEORGElV. 

ingly, and made their demand, as inhabitants of the town 
and parish, to be admitted to a participation of the rights 
and privileges, or, in other words, the freedom of the 
place ; we confidently submit, that this application ought 
to have been successful, and that it was most improperly 
rejected, and thus the great body of the very persons for 
whose benefit the charters were granted, and have been 
continued, are denied privileges which their servants and 
labourers are permitted to enjoy. 

In confirmation of the view we have taken of this sub- 
ject, in which we have insisted on the enrolment and 
swearing in of the free inhabitants at the court leet, we 
must add, that there is a court of that description, which 
has been held from time immemorial to the present time; 
to which all the inhabitant householders are duly sum- , 
moned, and owe suit and service there; and a due list of 
them ought to be presented by the constables to the 
court, and being called over, they should all appear, and 
take the oath of allegiance as required by law, although 
the officers of the court have of late years, in defiance of 
the law, ceased to administer that oath. 

The following are copies of ancient directions for hold- 
ing this court, and the warrant which is usually issued 
to summon the householders. 

Notice of Court Leet. 

The King's i Notice is hereby given, that the court leet of our Lord 
town, &c tne King, for the said town and parish, will be holden at 
the court-hall, within the said town and parish, on 
the day of instant, at nine of the clock in 

the forenoon, at which time and place all persons who 
owe suit and service to the said court are required to 
attend. Dated the day of 

C. D. Mayer. 



1823—4 GEORGE IV. 



231 



Ten notices to be stuck up, and the eleventh to be 
signed by the person who sticks them up, which ought 
to be the first sergeant. 

N. B. Remember you give ten days' notice. 

The Form of taking the Record of Leet. 

The court leet and view of frankpledge, holden for the 
said town and parish, on the day of 

before C. D., esq. mayor of the said town and parish. 

A. B. Constable. 

G. G.\ 

R.R.I 

rp Ty /Borsholders. 

G. M.j 
The names of the jury empannelled and sworn to in- 
quire for our sovereign Lord the King. 

E.H. sworn first. 



sworn. 



L.M. 

S.S. 
R. G. 
T.J. 



) sworn. 



W.G. 
W.A. 



A. B. 



T. D.^ 
E. E. 
H.E. 
S. L. 
J.H. 
J. S. 
J. P. 
P.S.J 

A. B„ C. D., E. F., sworn officers. 
Which said jury, being sworn and charged, do, upon 
their oath, present, That, &c. Sworn in court, &c. 

We do also present W. T. of M. aforesaid, for 

constable for the said town and parish for one whole year 
next ensuing, in the room and stead of T. M. 

Same manner enter borsholders, (varying for consta- 
ble for one of the borsholders ;) after you have taken the 
whole down, let the jury set their names at bottom. 



232 1823—4 GEORGE IV. 

The constables and borsholders, for the last year, are 
to give in their warrants to summon inhabitants to be of 
the leet and jury ; which warrants are to be delivered 
at least a week before court leet, and which are as 
follow : — 

Warrant to Constable, fyc. to return Lints, §c. to appear 
and do Suit, tyc. at Leet, 

The King's , To the constable and borsholders of the King's town 
tcwn,&c. i and parish of M#&c> 

These are, in his Majesty's name, to charge and com- 
mand you, immediately on receipt hereof, to give notice, 
that the court leet, for the said town and parish, is ap- 
pointed to be held at the court-hail, within tbe said town, 
on the day of instant, by nine ">f 

the clock in the forenoon of the same day ; and that you 
give personal notice to all the householders within the 
said town and parish, that they, and every of them, with 
C. d. their sojourners, servants and children, being of mankind, 
Mayor. ^ ^ e a g e Q f t NVe i ve years and upwards, and under the 
age of sixty, do then and there personally be and appear, 
to do their suit and service, and all other things to 
them belonging, according to the laws and statutes of 
this realm, and custom of the said town and parish; and 
that you warn twenty -four able and sufficient men of the said 
leet, to be and appear at the time and place aforesaid, to be 
of the jury, then and there to inquire, for our said town and 
parish, of all matters and things as shall be given them in 
charge ;* and that you warn four suitors for the several 
boroughs, within the said town and parish, to see whether 
all faults presented at the last court were amended at the 



* What is herb printed in italics, in the borshokk-rs' four warrant?, 
is to be omitted ; in every other particular the same. 



LBS 79 



1823—4 GEORGE IV. 233 

time limited, ana to see what other faults are presented 
at the next court : And that you yourself be then and 
there present, to make return of this precept, and to do 
and perform those things to your office appertaining : And 
have you then and there a note, fairly written, of the names 
of all such persons as you shall so warn, together with 
this warrant ; and hereof fail not at your peril. Dated 
the thirteenth day of 18 

You are to return a list in writing of all theresiants, as 
well those who pay as those who do not, distinguishing 
those who pay from those who do not, otherwise you will 
be fined. Soon after leet, not longer than a month, you 
are to give a list, fairly written, of the presentments at 
the leet, with the warrant to constable. 

1st. Call the court, by making proclamation, thus : — 

O yes, O yes, O yes, all manner of persons that owe 
suit and service, and were summoned to appear here this 
day, to serve our sovereign Lord the King, in his court 
leet now holden, draw near and give your attendance. 

2d. Again make proclamation. 

O yes, O yes, O yes, all manner of persons which are 
resident, and do owe suit royal to this leet, come in and 
make your suit and answer to your names, as you shall 
be called, every one on pain and peril which shall fail 
thereon. 

3d. Call over the lists of the inhabitants, and at the end 
of every list say, You that have made default, come into 
court, otherwise you will be amerced. 

After they are called over, make the proclamation, and 
say, 

-4th. If any man will essoigne for another, and save his 
amerciament for not appearing, let him come to the 
steward and do the same. 

5th. Then call over the jury and swear them. 



234 1823— 4 GEORGE IV. 

6th. Then fix upon three of the jury for officers, and 
administer the oath to them. 

7th. Then call the constable and borsholders, with the 
suitors, &c. 

8th. Then read the following acts. 
Riot Act, 1 Geo. I. c. 5. 
Black Act, 9 Geo. I. c. 22. , 

Then make proclamation to keep silence while the 
charge is given to the jury. 

Gentlemen of the Jury, — The court leet is a court of 
Tery ancient date, but of late years has fallen much into 
disuse by the establishment of the General Quarter Ses- 
sions of the Peace, which by experience is found to be a 
court much easier for the expediting public business, 
they being held four times in a year, this only once, 
&c. &c. 

N.B. You may give a long or short charge at your plea- 
sure. After charge adjourn the leet. 

Annex the lists of inhabitants together, and put into 
minute paper, writing, first, at bottom of list (as follows) : 

f.f Are resiants within the precinct of this leet, and view 
of frankpledge, and have been duly summoned to appear 
at this court, but have made default : The said jury do 
therefore amerce each and every of tbem sixpence ; and 
the officers aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, do assess 
the same at four pence for each and every of the de- 
faulters." 

From the ancient books of the corporation it appears 
quite clear that all the inhabitant householders or resiants 
who made default in doing their suit at the court leet, 
which consisted in appearing there, and taking the oath 
of allegiance, were, from the earliest times, amerced for 
such defaults. 

We hare now given at length, and observed upon 



1823-4 GEORGE IV. 235 

every document relating to this place which have as yet 
come to our notice, and perhaps at a length unprece- 
dented, and with a minuteness of detail which has been 
tedious ; but as the view taken of the subject is some- 
what novel, and long-continued usurpations and deep- 
rooted prejudices exist against it, we can hardly expect 
to establish our point without showing the legal and his- 
torical grounds for our opinion, the authorities upon 
which it is supported, and the manner in which the do- 
cuments and cases relating to this particular case are 
reconcilable with our view of the subject ; if we are right 
in this view, (and of which we entertain no doubt,) 
though prejudice should be strong against it, a minute 
investigation of the case will nevertheless support it : if 
we are wrong, the same minuteness of investigation must 
point out the source of our error, so that it may be 
readily seen and corrected. 

In the reigns of the Stuarts a system arose of gaining an 
influence for the Government in the different corpora- ' 
tions, through the medium of the select bodies. Charles 
II. by a stretch of arbitrary regal power, seized many of 
the corporations with whom he was dissatisfied ; this 
raised throughout the country a feeling against those 
attacks of the Crown, and a strong sensation in favour of 
the corporations, which spread itself all over the country, 
and pervaded even the courts of law ; whence the pre- 
servation of the usages (or more properly the usurpations) 
of the select bodies became a great object of solicitude, 
and principles were adopted to support them, which, 
although they cannot bear the test of examination, were 
nevertheless perseveringly acted upon, and at length 
grew into a system, the propriety of which no one felt 
an interest to dispute, till the evils resulting from it Jmve 



236 1825— 6 GEORGE IV. 

become so generally felt, that the inquiry is now almost 
imperiously necessary. 

It only remains that we should make a few general ob- 
servations upon the whole history of this place, and the 
documents relating to it. 

There cannot be the least doubt but that by all the 
charters, as well the ancient as that under which the cor 
poration now subsists, the inhabitants are the persons in- 
corporated and entitled to the privileges of the place : and 
that all the inhabitant householders paying scot and lot are 
entitled to be admitted into the corporation ; and that 
none others can be entitled to share the privileges of it. 

However, as we know the prejudices that prevail on 
this subject, and the present disinclination of the courts 
even to hear these doctrines, and much less to consider 
them, we cannot but feel that some difficulty and delay 
may interpose before we procure our right; but we trust 
to united and continued exertion to remove the former, 
and patience to endure the latter, till the weight of facts 
and the conviction of reason may remove all prejudices, 
and induce the courts, as well as the present corporators, 
to allow their fellow-townsmen, without further dispute, 
their clear and indisputable privileges. 

We assert boldly, and if we are wrong we trust our 
error will be pointed out, that any supposed bye-law, 
restraining the members of the corporation to any selected 
body of the inhabitants, will not, or at least ought not, to 
stand in the way of their just claim ; and we say that such 
a bye-law is bad, and void in law, as contrary to the ex- 
press words of the charter, and limiting the eligibility to 
a part only of the general body to whom it is expressly 
granted. 

We are aware it has been said by the highest authority 



1825—6 GEORGE IV. 23' 

in the court of King's Bench that the word " inhabitants'' 
means freemen selected by the corporation, and that they 
hav T e an unlimited discretion in admitting or rejecting 
whom they please. 

But where rights of such importance to themselves and 
the public, as those claimed by the inhabitants of Maid- 
stone, are at issue, it is our duty to express the opinions 
we have deliberately formed, although we feel every pos- 
sible respect for that high and learned authority, and 
trust we may be excused for saying, with respect to the 
opinion expressed extrajudicially, and only as an obiter 
dictum, that, at least as far as this place is concerned, 
after the minute attention we have given to the question, 
we are satisfied both those opinions are incorrect, and 
will, upon investigation, be found to be so. 

To say that the words inhabitants and commonalty mean, 
in this charter, a body selected at the mere arbitrary will 
of the mayor, jurats and commonalty, is contrary to the 
words, spirit, and intention of all the charters : and, ex- 
plained in the manner before stated, contrary to the an- 
cient usage of this place: and to assume generally, that 
such a power of selection is inherent in a corporation, is 
to sanction usurpation, and from a general undefined con- 
ception that such things have generally been used, to 
close the door of inquiry, and decide on unascertained 
and erroneous guesses. 

We know, if the history of any of the boroughs or cor- 
porations, in which such a course has been exercised, is 
investigated, the usage will be found to be an usurpation, 
commencing in the same manner and time, and supported 
by the same means, as it has been practised in this place: 
no history of any place has been investigated in which it 
has not been so found. 

As to the parliamentary right of election, we have also 



238 18-2.5— (i GEORGE IV. 

no doubt that the right is properly in the inhabitants, and 
that it ought to be so decided. 

From the granting of the charter of Edward VI. to the 
17 James I. it is quite clear that the corporators were the 
inhabitants, and till that time, (when the ambiguous clause 
for the admission of non-inhabitants w T as introduced,) the 
right of parliamentary election must have been exercised 
by the inhabitants. If that was so, the case of Chippenham, 
in Glanville's Reports, p. 47, and the doctrine in the 4th 
Institutes, page 48, are decisive to show that the clause 
in the charter of 17 James I. could uot alter the right of 
parliamentary election, or divest the right once exercised 
by the inhabitants. The agreements as to the right in 
1701 and 1702 ought not to affect the right of election, 
as such agreements can neither bind the inhabitants or a 
committee : and even if they were taken as evidence of 
reputation as to the right of election, still the term free- 
men is capable of being construed to mean free inhabi- 
tants ; which construction is necessary in order to make 
the agreements correspond with the charters. 

The inhabitants, therefore, have 'properly the right of 
election ; though a contrary usage may have some time 
prevailed, but such usage, when proved to have no founda- 
tion in law, cannot prevail against a public right. 



FINIS. 



Printed by Mills, Jowett and Mills, (late Bensley,) Bolt-court. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



021 397 217 



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